Tingles
by macmillanluv
Summary: Poppy is Oliver Wood's little sister and in a different house, living a relatively normal life. Until she falls for Marcus Flint - Oliver's mortal enemy. Not the easiest choice for a first crush. Eventually MF/OC, possible other pairings. Rewriting an old story.
1. Prologue

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

_September 1st, 1990_

Poppy Wood was extremely nervous. This was, of course, an understatement as she'd spent the last three weeks waking up in the middle of the night, same time every night, and almost not being able to breathe. There she was standing in front of a huge hall full of people, most of them watching closely at what was happening around her. This was what she'd been waiting for half her life and what she'd been dreading ever since her letter arrived. Her first year at Hogwarts was about to begin and the sorting ceremony was already in full swing. The Great Hall looked grand, exactly as Poppy's brother had described. Candles were floating in mid-air, casting a beautiful glow on to the faces of terrified yet excited first year students. They were all eager to get sorted into their houses and Poppy definitely was, too, she was just worried of what was to come after the sorting. Having never had many friends, the idea of getting to know complete strangers, not to mention living with them, made her a bit uneasy.

Names were being called and one by one, all the first years had to go up, sit on a creaking old chair and let a musty old hat decide where they would spend the next seven years. Poppy wasn't sure how a hat was supposed to be the best judge of character but if there was one thing she'd learned of witches and wizards, it was that they were sometimes a bit unusual. On the train from London, her brother Oliver had been telling all his friends how Poppy would surely be a Gryffindor. To Oliver, his house was naturally the best and Poppy hoped she would be sorted there, so she'd have at least one friend right from the start.

Poppy fiddled with her blonde hair. She had braided it on two sides and tied the ends with black ribbon. Oliver had said black was morbid and Poppy should wear red and gold, for good luck. "Black goes with everything," she had replied. The sorting ceremony had been going on for a century already, or so it felt. Some students barely even had the hat on, when it already had the answer and for some it took so long even Professor McGonagall looked as if she'd fall asleep any minute. Poppy was not paying much attention into who was sorted where, there was plenty of time for such things later. A loud voice brought her back to reality, interrupting her thoughts.

"Poppy Wood," Professor McGonagall bellowed, now for the third time. "Do we have a Poppy Wood here?"

"Oh, yes, right here!" Poppy answered in surprise and hurried towards Professor McGonagall. Some students were snickering. Poppy felt ashamed, she had wanted to make a good first impression, especially on the teachers, and not come across as uninterested or aloof. Poppy sat on the stool while McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on her head. The hat began speaking inside her head.

"Ahh," The Hat said, "I see you're clever and resourceful. You'll do well in your subjects but you're not quite fit for Ravenclaw."

Poppy breathed a sigh of relief. Ravenclaw had just never sounded like the place for her. Highly intelligent people were not her cup of tea, she thought they could be irritating.

"You're friendly and don't pass judgement on others... Brave, certainly, but not fit for Gryffindor. You'd make a wonderful Hufflepuff, but I wonder..."

Poppy wasn't pleased with where this was going. Hufflepuff would be great for her. She was certain she'd fit in well there, at least better than the last option. The Hat couldn't have been possibly suggesting Slytherin, Oliver had told Poppy all about the house. He always said every Slytherin was ruthless and just out for their own good. Evil, he had once said.

"You have a lot of ambition and determination, and Slytherin would help you fulfill your potential."

This hat had no idea what it was talking about and she didn't like it implying she wasn't a good person. There was no way it would place her in Slytherin, it couldn't. She wasn't evil.

"You are hard working and would be a fit for Hufflepuff, however I'm sure you'll reach greatness in Slytherin!" The Hat bellowed the last word out loud. Poppy was shocked but made her way towards her new house table. She looked over her shoulder and saw Oliver sitting at his table, his jaw practically hitting the floor.

Poppy sat down. Two more students were sorted after her and food began appearing on the table. Everybody dug right in and a lot of the first year Slytherins were talking to each other excitedly, it seemed a lot of them already knew one another. Pureblood families, surely. Nobody said a word to Poppy. She wanted to cry but held back the tears, not wanting anyone to see. Glancing over at Oliver again, she caught a glimpse of his face, it had gone completely pale. His eyes were wide open and staring straight ahead, not focused on anything. Poppy didn't know if she was seeing disappointment or disbelief.

After the feast, Oliver pulled Poppy aside as all the other first year students followed their Prefects into their new common rooms. He dragged her over to Professor McGonagall and demanded she put Poppy in Gryffindor. McGonagall did not look too pleased, if her pursed lips and crossed arms were any indication of her feelings. Oliver and Poppy followed her into an empty classroom where Professor Snape soon joined them.

"My sister is not a bloody Slytherin!" Oliver said. It was clear he was going to make a speech, he had a habit of doing so. Poppy hoped he wouldn't completely humiliate her, not in front of her new Head of House. During the feast, Poppy had had a lot of time to process The Sorting Hats decision and she had almost come to terms with it, though she was worried how the other students would react to her. Slytherin did have a great Quidditch team, Oliver had ranted about them so much. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"The Sorting Hat made its decision, Mr. Wood," McGonagall cut Oliver off before he even got started. "And may I remind you, you are the one insisting we go against its decision and not Poppy herself."

"Well, she's just a child," Oliver said.

"Not a child, Ollie, just a first year Slytherin," Poppy answered, annoyed. She didn't necessarily want to be in Slytherin but it couldn't be the worst thing in the world, at least she'd get some time off from her overprotective brother. He was only three years older than her and sometimes Poppy felt Oliver should try relaxing once in a while. The world wouldn't stop spinning if he let go. She'd never tell him, though, not after everything he'd done for her.

"Slytherin is a house with the some of the finest students in Hogwarts," Professor Snape said to Oliver, who didn't look too pleased. "Your sister is clearly ambitious, goal-oriented, determined and resourceful. All of which are traits that apply to you, too, Mr. Wood. End of discussion."

And that was it. Professor McGonagall sent Oliver to his common room and Professor Snape escorted Poppy to hers. The dungeons were cold and sent shivers down Poppy's spine. The extra blanket in her luggage would come in handy. Entering the common room, Poppy looked around her, there were skulls and snakes everywhere along with green and silver. The green leather armchairs didn't look too comfortable but they did fit the whole dark and mysterious scene. Poppy didn't see any first years around, it was already quite late, but a few older students were still lounging by the fireplace. The feast had gone on for a few hours, most students were probably sleeping or catching up with their friends down in the dormitories. Some of the students were eyeing Poppy and whispering. She walked towards her dormitory, when someone spoke up.

"So, how's it feel being stuck down here with us monsters instead of the all-mighty lions up in the tower?" A muscular, tan boy with black hair asked. He was sitting in one of the leather armchairs. Some of his teeth were crooked and he had a black eye. He definitely looked a bit worse for wear.

"Oh, it's fine. I've seen worse under my bed," Poppy replied. The boy chuckled a little.

"You're Wood's sister, then?" he asked.

"Yes. I suppose you're Marcus Flint?" Poppy said, realising who the boy was. Oliver had spoken of him.

"I am. So, he talks about me? All scared and shivering, right?" Flint asked with a grin.

"Not really, I think he's mentioned you once. It was in a letter I got, right after Gryffindor beat Slytherin last year. He wrote that you were quite upset and there was something about breaking a chair? You just seemed the type," Poppy answered. Of course Oliver had talked about Flint. They were both favorite to be the next captain of their respective Quidditch teams and there was quite a fierce rivalry between them.

"You're funny," Flint said dryly. "Run along now and go to bed, before the monsters get you."

Arriving in her dormitory, Poppy saw the other girls had already changed into their pyjamas and were happily chatting away, one bed to another. She didn't bother introducing herself, they probably all knew who she was and, judging by the looks on their faces, didn't care to know more. Poppy brushed her teeth, changed and went to bed. Tomorrow would be a whole new day, maybe she'd actually have a conversation with someone other than Marcus Flint. Seven years is a long time, Poppy thought, and it feels even longer if nobody likes you.


	2. Old Friends

**Chapter 2: Old Friends**

_September 1st, 1993_

"Are you absolutely certain you have everything?" Oliver asked his sister, for about the hundreth time, as they were about to get on the Hogwarts Express.

"Ollie, we have five minutes until the train leaves. If I've forgotten something, there's really nothing we can do, is there?" Poppy answered with a sigh. Not only was her older brother being helpful, protective and brotherly, he was also aggravating. She'd been fully packed for a week now and throughout the whole week, everyday, without fail, at least ten times a day, Oliver would ask Poppy to check everything was packed.

"I think I'll just go find Grace, okay?" Poppy asked as they were searching the train for familiar faces and a place to sit.

"Are you completely sure you'll be alright?" Oliver yelled after her and she just turned around and rolled her eyes.

Grace was Poppy's only friend at Hogwarts. They had met by the lake during Poppy's second week at Hogwarts. She was a nearly a year older than Poppy and a Hufflepuff. She had dark brown, short and curly hair that framed her heart-shaped face. Her lightly freckled complexion suited her round blue eyes and her tiny, upturned button nose and small features made Poppy jealous occasionally as she felt her own, straight nose and square jaw looked humongous in comparison.

Poppy had long, blond hair, that she usually just kept down but occasionally tied up just to keep out of the way. Grace had said the color was a light strawberry blond, whatever that meant. She was always bugging Poppy to do something else with her hair and shoving makeup in her face. Poppy had dark green, almond-shaped eyes and just by looking at the two of them, most people never guessed her and Oliver were siblings. Oliver was tall and burly, Poppy was short and slender. He had dark, chocolate brown eyes and short medium brown hair and was always tan from being outside so much where as Poppy could spend all day in the sun and still stay the same milky color.

From the first time Poppy met Grace, it was obvious Grace really liked boys. Poppy had been doing her potions essay under a big tree by the lake at school, when she heard giggling from behind the tree. Poppy was sure it was some of the girls from her dormitory as they had not exactly warmed up to her, so she got up to go check and maybe give them a piece of her mind. But instead, she found Grace and a brown-haired Hufflepuff boy, smooching. Poppy was so taken aback by this that while trying to exit the scene undetected, she tripped over a root and fell to the ground. This startled the boy, who quickly hurried away, leaving Grace there laughing her eyes off. Grace helped Poppy up and explained that she had just been giving the boy the memory of a great first kiss, which Poppy had effectively ruined.

"He'll get over it," Grace said. "When I had my first kiss last year, my dad caught us and accidentally set the curtains on fire. And I'm fine now."

Meeting Grace had surely been an experience and it seemed as if every year she got even wilder. Poppy had never even been kissed, unless you count when Adrian Pucey tried kissing her last year, causing Poppy to swerve and have his lips hit her forehead. She definitely didn't count that. Grace on the other hand had been on a number of dates and had boyfriends, plural.

Poppy ran into Grace halfway through the train and they found an empty compartment near the back of the train.

"So, you must tell me everything!" Grace exclaimed, her eyes glistening. Poppy knew Grace really wanted to talk about herself whenever she seemed overly fascinated with Poppy's life.

"You know, same old, same old," Poppy said. "Oliver got a job at the Quidditch shop in Diagon Alley and I waited tables at the Leaky Cauldron to help pay for our room."

Poppy and Oliver's father had left when she was just four years old and since then they had been living with their mother. Oliver turned seventeen last November and they had moved out as soon as school let out, to the Leaky Cauldron. Their mother wasn't the best mother, Poppy always thought, and sometimes it seemed as if she wasn't even trying. It was as if she wasn't always present in this reality. The first few years without their father weren't bad, they were actually a normal family, but when Poppy was six, something changed. Their mother used to disappear for days, nobody knew where she went. Oliver practically raised Poppy, and he knew by the time Poppy was eight, she'd have to be able to take care of herself while he was at Hogwarts. Sometimes Poppy wished her mother would stop coming back every time and just leave for good. Poppy used to hide in her closet to read and write, even while her mother was home. Occasionally she'd forget Poppy even existed.

"It was a boring summer, trust me," Poppy said and asked, "What about yours?"

She knew Grace would probably spend the rest of the journey talking about her summer, stopping only to buy and eat every sweet off the trolley, and all Poppy had to do was listen. Apparently, Grace had met a cute muggle boy and went on a few dates with him. She had also met his friend, who was even cuter, and went out with him, too. The boys didn't know about each other at first, and when they found out there was a huge fight.

"And I mean huge!" Grace exclaimed. "I may have made things even worse when I pretended not to know who I met first, but it was just too funny! In the end neither of them wanted to see me again but it's fine, not like I'm ever going back there anyway."

Grace's family were muggles and they always spent their summer somewhere different. This year they summered in Blackpool.

The train ride took longer than usual, midway through the journey dementors stopped the train to look for some murderous lunatic. While they passed the girls' train compartment, Poppy felt as if someone had taken her good memories and replaced it with all that had ever gone wrong in her life and multiplied it by a million. Grace was relatively unaffected. After they were gone, in an effort to cheer Poppy up, Grace performed a curling spell on Poppy's hair. It created beautiful big curls that fell onto Poppy's shoulders.

Finally, the train arrived at Hogsmeade. Poppy and Grace were among the last to leave the train, since Grace wanted to freshen her makeup one last time before stepping out. She also insisted on putting lipgloss on Poppy.

"This is such a great shade, don't you think? It's even called 'Magical', how fitting is that?" Grace laughed.

"It's sticky," Poppy complained.

"Oh, shut up. Your lips are so full they were made for lipgloss. Or for snogging but I don't see that happening anytime soon. My point is, it looks perfect! Do you want mascara? Your lashes are so long you don't really need it but..."

Poppy opted out of mascara, amazed at Grace's ability to combine compliments and slight insults in the same sentence. She chuckled. Sometimes she felt jealous of Grace's looks, the fact she was taller than Poppy or her long legs but Grace was always quick to turn the conversation around, praising Poppy for her best qualities. Whenever Poppy got insecure about herself, Grace was there to make her forget it.

The girls got on the last carriage that would take them to the castle. It was about to take off when they heard a boys voice: "Wait! Don't leave yet!" The carriage jolted and Grace fell on Poppy's lap. Two boys climbed on. Poppy couldn't immediately see them because Grace was still scrambling her way off the floor and out of Poppy's lap. When she finally saw who their new companions were, she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Marcus Flint?" Poppy gasped. They boy sitting next to Marcus was Adrian Pucey. He smiled wide upon recognising Poppy. Poppy flashed a faint smile in his direction, she didn't fancy Adrian the way he did her, but he was one of the better Slytherins. Or used to be, who knew what effect Flint had had on him.

"Do I know you?" Flint asked with a puzzled look.

"Well, I am in your house," Poppy said slightly annoyed.

"Oh," Flint replied. "What's your name, then?"

"It's Poppy! You know Poppy, Wood's sister, right?" Adrian said before Poppy had a chance to open her mouth.

"Right, didn't recognise you," Flint said, turning away from Poppy and began talking Quidditch with Adrian.

Arriving at the castle, they all exited the carriage. Grace held Poppy back a little bit so the boys wouldn't hear their conversation.

"He doesn't know who you are?" Grace asked in shock. "I mean, you're a bit more womanly now, sure, but you're not that different."

"Apparently. But whenever he's spoken to me before, I've been with Oliver, maybe he just needs some context to remember people. It is Flint, after all," Poppy ranted. She was a bit mad, who wouldn't be? This boy had known her for three years and then he just forgets? They never talked much, only when Oliver was around Flint would shout out obscenities and that mostly happened before a Quidditch match, but still, he forgot?

"What's he even doing here, didn't he graduate last year?" Grace pondered.

"Guess not."

After the sorting of new students and the feast, Poppy entered the Slytherin common room and was amazed when it was nearly empty. Flint was sitting on one of the green leather chairs. Everybody else was probably down in their own dormitories, catching up and telling each other about their summers or plotting evil plans, as Slytherins do. The train ride had been exhaustingly long and Poppy was heading for bed when Flint spoke.

"It's the hair," he said.

"What?" Poppy replied, maybe a bit too snappily. She was still mad.

"I mean, it's different, it's why I didn't recognise you," Flint explained. "It looks nice."

"What?" Poppy said surprised. A compliment, from Flint? "I mean, what are you doing back here?"

"There was a problem of sorts," he replied vaguely.

"Right. I'm going to bed," Poppy said. No reply.

She lay awake in bed for awhile, not being able to sleep. Was Marcus Flint going soft? They'd actually had an almost decent conversation with no name-calling or rude remarks. She thought maybe she had been too quick to snap at him. Maybe this new side of him would help her in the upcoming Quidditch tryouts. She'd never tried out before, in fear of Flint and having listened to Oliver's stories about him for a few years. Flint and Oliver both became captain two years ago and Oliver told Poppy not to try out until Flint was gone. Except, he was supposed to be gone this year. This was supposed go be Poppy's year and she wasn't going to let anybody stand in her way, least of all Marcus Flint.


	3. Disappointment

**Chapter 3: Disappointment**

Poppy was soaring through the air, catching every single quaffle thrown her way. She could feel the wind in her hair and see a lot of tiny people on the ground. The tiny people were watching her and judging her every move. Poppy grinned to herself, she had done great, it was practically flawless. She flew to ground level, got off her broom and smiled cheekily. Marcus was looking at her with amazement which turned into a sneer. Poppy had gotten used to this look and hadn't been expecting a warmer welcome, even if he'd been acting more a human being and less a monster lately.

"So?" Poppy asked, wiping sweat from her forehead. "What'd you think?"

"To be completely honest, and it hurts me to say this, you were good. I'm not gonna put you on the team, though," Flint answered and turned around to face his team members. Poppy tapped him on his broad shoulder and he turned back again.

"What? Why not?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"No girls on the Slytherin team," Flint said simply. Now Poppy was truly annoyed.

"So that's just your own rule, then?"

"Slytherins have always preferred that girls cheer in the stands and have fun at the afterparties", Flint said and was about to turn around again.

"There hasn't been much partying after Potter came along," Poppy remarked.

"Is there anything else or can I go on with my life now? No girls on the team, end of discussion," Flint said. He was clearly cross with Poppy.

"Put me on the team," she demanded.

"Why should I go against tradition?"

"Because I'm a better keeper than whoever that guy over there is. Hell, I'd probably be better at any position than the team you have now. Which isn't much of an accomplishment, since you apparently choose your players based on size and not skills!" Poppy ranted. Flint's smug look was fading a little.

"Insulting my team isn't going to get you very far, little girl," Flint said raising his raspy voice a little. He didn't scare Poppy, even if he was the biggest and baddest Slytherin. All the first years always described him as that and told warning tales of what he'd done to those who got too close. Poppy was sure most of those stories were false but Flint certainly enjoyed making them seem true and it was easy to see why he was feared. He was tall, taller than Oliver, and wide, more muscular than chasers usually. Physically, he would have been better suited as a beater. His rough playing tactics were widely known, and Oliver had told Poppy whenever he had to shake Flint's hand, he'd end up with nearly crushed fingers.

"Look, I get that you have to act tough in front of them," Poppy said lowering her voice a little, nodding in the team's direction. "But just put me on the team and maybe you'll win for a change."

Flint laughed. It wasn't a friendly laugh, no, it was definitely a laugh that was meant to mock and belittle.

"You think we're friends now? Because I said I liked your hair? That doesn't make us friends, you don't get to talk to me in that way. You're just another pretty thing to look at," Flint said loudly, with his signature sneer.

"No, we're definitely not friends. But you are going to put me on this team, I'm sure of it," Poppy said. She tried remaining firm but was certain her voice was shaking. "Once you realise your keeper can't even catch his own thoughts, you'll come looking for me."

She turned on her heels and headed for the edge of the pitch. Grace was waiting, she'd come to see Poppy try out.

"How was that?" Poppy asked nervously.

"Very good, very firm," Grace replied with a smile. "And your playing was just top notch!"

The girls headed back to the castle so Poppy could shower and change before they headed out to the lake to study. On their way, they ran into Oliver. He spotted them, Poppy's broom and her sweaty clothes and headed towards them in a decisive manner.

"You're in trouble now," Grace whispered.

"Poppy! What've you been doing? I thought you spend Saturdays studying?" Oliver quizzed. Poppy thought maybe she should tell a little lie but decided not to. She always thought lies should be saved for bigger things, then people will believe them.

"I tried out for Quidditch," she replied. Oliver's brows furrowed. "And I know what you're going to say so don't."

"Oh, you're not getting out of this that easily. What were you thinking? Flint is still here, he's a vile captain and a poor example of a human being!" Oliver ranted.

"I don't care who's captain. I just want to play," Poppy tried to reason. "I didn't even make the team... Yet."

"What do you mean you didn't make it? You're almost as good as me!" Oliver shouted. "Wait, you're trying to change the subject! I don't want you on that team, a few months, no- make that a few minutes playing with Flint and you'll come running to me in tears."

"Oliver, shut up. I'll get on the team and there's nothing you can do about it. Now, I'm going to go shower and then we're off to study. I will see you later," Poppy said and walked away. Grace waved faintly at Oliver, who smiled weakly before waving back.

"So why do you want to play?" Grace questioned.

"What do you mean? I love Quidditch," Poppy said.

"You do, I know. And you've been wanting to play ever since you got to Hogwarts but you always said you'd wait until Flint's gone."

"Yeah, I know. But-"

"You fancy him!" Grace interrupted.

"I do not!" Poppy yelled. "I mean... That's absurd!"

"It's obvious," Grace said. "He forgets your name and suddenly you're all 'Ooh, let me on your team, let's play Quidditch together and snog.'"

"That doesn't make any sense," Poppy said with a puzzled look.

"Of course it does, you got so mad when he didn't remember you and now you want to prove you're unforgettable. Everybody loves a bad boy and that's how they get you," Grace said.

"You're way off with this, I have no interest in him," Poppy said firmly.

"Why not wait until next year, he can't still be here then," Grace quizzed.

"Because this was supposed to be the year I got on the team!" Poppy snapped. Grace looked genuinely confused. "I have a plan and I won't let anyone stand in my way. I want on that team."


	4. Surprises

**Chapter 4: Surprises**

Two weeks after the Quidditch tryouts, Poppy was completely fine. That's what she said whenever someone asked and slowly she was actually beginning to believe it. She hadn't actually considered the possibility of not getting on the team but a few hours after the tryouts that thought had sunk into her head and never left.

"Are you alright?" Grace would ask several times a day.

"I'm fine," Poppy would answer with a smile.

Never mind the fact Poppy would spend their study sessions by staring into nothing and replaying the events of the tryouts in her head. What if she'd been faster, or maybe nicer to Flint? No matter what she did differently, the scenarios in her head always ended the same way; with Flint telling her she'd never be on the team.

It was a beautiful, bright Thursday afternoon and Poppy was waiting for her Herbology class to begin. Grace had some free time and wanted to wait with Poppy, try to cheer her up.

"Hogsmeade visit is coming up," Grace said. "We can go to Honeydukes."

"Great, maybe I should buy and eat twice my weight in chocolate., since I don't need to be in shape for anything," Poppy remarked but quickly added, "Kidding! I'm fine."

"Mhm," Grace mumbled. "Professor Sprout's coming, I should go."

Grace left while Poppy and her classmates poured into the greenhouse. Poppy loved Herbology but even that couldn't cheer her up. They were working with bouncing bulbs and Poppy didn't even feel up to answering the professor's questions about the plant. She knew most of the answers but was too busy trying to not think about Flint. Her thoughts of trying not to think were interrupted by somebody entering the greenhouse. Poppy assumed it would be Cho Chang from Ravenclaw as she was always late, but Cho was standing right next to her, trying to get her bulb to stop bouncing out of its pot. Poppy, along with other students, turned her head towards the door.

"Ah, Mr. Flint, what can I do for you today?" Professor Sprout asked with a warm, welcoming tone. "Perhaps you want to borrow another one of my books?"

"Not today, professor, thank you," Flint answered and searched the greenhouse with his grey eyes when he finally spotted Poppy. "I would like to borrow Miss Wood for a few minutes, though. Professor Snape needs to see her. He said it's urgent."

Poppy couldn't think of any reason why Snape would need to see her but she couldn't exactly say no even if Flint was the last person she wanted to see. Professor Sprout told her to come straight back and Poppy could hear all the other students whispering about her as she left.

"I heard she was caught in a broom closet with some boy," Cho Chang whispered.

"No, I think that was her friend," a girl standing next to Cho responded. "I wouldn't be too surprised, though."

Poppy followed Flint around the yard for a while when he suddenly stopped.

"What now?" Poppy asked, annoyed.

"Snape doesn't need to see you," he responded and looked taken aback by her. "I do."

"Oh, great. Did you interrupt my class just to make some mean remark?" Poppy said and looked at Flint. It would be so typical of him to do something like this. "Because that would be low, even for you."

"Actually, no," Flint responded. "I came to tell you I reconsidered my decision and decided to put you on the team. I'm starting to regret my that, though."

"Real nice, Flint, truly lovely. This is a definitely a new low point for you but guess what, I'm not buying it."

"It's not a joke."

He looked dead serious.

"So, if I go and ask anybody on the Slytherin team, they'll know their keeper has been replaced by me?"

"Well, no. I figured I'd ask you first. They'll probably know by supper, though."

Poppy was dumbfounded and at a loss for words.

"I'm warning you, they won't like you. Hell, I don't like you. I'll make you work hard to keep the spot you rightfully earned. I want to win, that's why I picked you," Flint said firmly. "So, are you in?"

"Uh, yeah," Poppy answered, still not able to even process what was happening.

"Good. And don't come crying to me when the other players are mean to you or when you think practice five times a week is too much."

And with that, he left. Poppy returned to Herbology with so many questions in her head. Mostly she was wondering why Flint would borrow books from Professor Sprout.


	5. Malfoy

**Chapter 5: Malfoy  
**  
It had certainly been an interesting few days since Poppy was accepted into the Slytherin team. Flint had told the other players some time between his and Poppy's conversation and supper, just as he had said, and apparently word around Hogwarts spread quickly. When Poppy entered the Great Hall that gloomy Thursday night and made her way towards the Slytherin table, it was as if the dementors guarding Hogwarts were no more than a foot away. The reception was downright icy. Adrian Pucey was excited, naturally, and sat next to Poppy. She was glad someone was happy for her but had always felt she should try to let Adrian know she didn't like him in that way. It was just easier said than done.

They had gotten to know each other a year ago. Adrian had helped Poppy get a book from the highest shelf in the library and they had started chatting the day away. Poppy had felt as if she'd finally made a Slytherin friend until a few weeks into the friendship, he tried to kiss her and it was a big fiasco. Neither of them wanted to really talk about it so they avoided each other for a while and eventully settled on being casual acquaintances. They'd say hi to each other and act polite but Poppy knew Adrian still fancied her. She just didn't feel the same way. He was nice and he wasn't bad looking with his short, light brown hair and hazel eyes. He was tall and slender not as muscular as many other boys who played Quidditch but that didn't matter to Poppy. She had just kind of figured that if her first instinct was to quickly swerve away when he leaned in for a kiss, maybe he wasn't what she wanted. There was no spark.

So, Adrian was happy she was on the team. The rest were not. They weren't exactly vocal about the issue, but there was a lot of glaring and dirty looks. Until Friday morning. Students were waking up and heading for breakfast. The Slytherin common room was in a frenzy, just as any other morning. Poppy was just doing some finishing touches onto an essay, when Draco Malfoy walked out of his dormitory with his friends, not noticing Poppy on the couch.

"I can't believe that goody-goody is on the team, this whole place is going to the dogs," he said loudly and his friends snickered. "Makes you wonder how she got on in the first place. I guess a pretty face will get you anywhere."

"What did you say?" Poppy asked, jumping off the couch immediately. "You really want to talk about how someone gets on the team?"

"No, I don't believe I need to talk to you at all," Malfoy sneered and his loyal  
followers patted him on the back. "Way to go, Draco," the taller one muttered.

"At least I have skills, all you have is your fathers money," Poppy said as calmly as she could muster. Students around them were listening intently, stopping whatever they had been previously doing.

"Skills? I suppose you have certain skills but that has nothing to do with Quidditch," Malfoy said pompously and smirked. She didn't like what he was suggesting. His friends laughed loudly and some of the other students joined in. Poppy was about to punch Malfoys smug face when their argument was interrupted.

"Malfoy! Back off and take your lackeys with you!" Flint's deep, raspy voice bellowed over the common room. He was standing in the stairwell leading down to the boys dormitories. "And Wood, I suggest you do the same."

"You can try to treat her as if she's just another player but we all know the truth," Malfoy mumbled under his breath. He was glaring at Poppy as he turned around and ushered his friends towards the door.

"What did you say, you little git?" Flint asked, grinding his teeth. He walked towards Malfoy and even though he was just wearing pyjama bottoms, he still managed to look intimidating. It helped that he was twice Malfoy's size.

"You heard me," Malfoy responded. He was trying to sound confident but he looked to be shrinking as Flint got closer. His voice turned weak. "I don't approve of this."

"I don't care what you think," Flint said. Malfoy scoffed and left with his friends tagging along.

"I had to get out of bed for this," Flint mumbled as he headed back to his dormitory without a word to Poppy.

After breakfast, Poppy had classes in Potions and History of Magic. She wasn't fond of either subject and was thrilled when lunch time rolled around. She didn't see Flint at lunch and he hadn't shown up for breakfast, either. Poppy ate her lunch as swiftly as she could and headed to the common room to finish the Herbology essay she had meant to do before breakfast but Malfoy had effectively ruined that plan.

Poppy entered the empty common room, got her essay out and started working. She hated doing schoolwork in her dormitory or the Slytherin common room but it was too windy to go outside and the library was so far from the greenhouses that it would've taken ages to get to class from there. She finished her essay in the nick of time and was just about to leave when Flint came up the stairs, still in his pyjamas.

"Oh, it's you. I woke up to someone rumbling around here," he said.

"Sorry. Didn't you go to class today?" Poppy asked, puzzled as to why he was  
still sleeping.

"Nah, didn't feel like it," Flint answered.

Poppy nodded, trying to show she understood, though she didn't. Skipping class was something she had never done. There was an awkward silence between them.

"Uh, I'm sorry about Malfoy. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again," Flint finally said.

"I can take care of myself," Poppy scoffed. "You told me not to come to you if other players are mean, and I haven't. So don't come to me to say you're sorry. You made it clear we're not friends."

"I'm just trying to make sure you don't do anything stupid," Flint explained, scratching his head sluggishly. "You were about to punch him."

"What? No, I wasn't. What?" Poppy was taken aback by the fact her intentions had apparently been so clear to him. "And so what?"

"You heard how that hippogriff that supposedly attacked Malfoy is going to have a hearing and most likely end up with its head on the wall of the Malfoy manor?" Flint said. Poppy nodded, so he continued, "What do you think would happen to you?"

"He can't have me put down like an animal," Poppy argued. Flint smiled slightly.

"No, but he can get you expelled for a while if he wants to," he said. "So, maybe try to just tolerate him?"

"You're being awfully nice," Poppy remarked. "It's refreshing."

"Good mood, I suppose. I didn't suffer through classes and we start practice next week. Do you think they're still serving lunch?" Flint asked.

"I guess. Were you going to show up in those?" Poppy answered, eyeing his pyjama bottoms.

"Maybe," Marcus said, smiling a little. Poppy looked at the clock on the wall and realised she was running a bit late.

"I have to go," she said abruptly. "To class."

Flint didn't even have a chance to respond when she was out the door already. She was getting tired of Flint's ever-changing mood, one second he was the angry monster he was known as, and the next he was almost a normal human being. Poppy's life would've been much simpler if he could have just decided to either hate her or not.


	6. The Rumor

**Chapter 6: The Rumor**

The very next day was a beautiful yet rainy Saturday that began exactly as any other. Poppy noticed the girls in her dormitory staring at her a little more than usual but they didn't say anything. They sometimes made fun of Poppy's clothes or mocked the way her hair looked but most of the time they would just laugh at her behind her back. This morning was no exception as they glared at Poppy, sharing glances between each other and trying to stifle their laughter.

The girls in her dorm, Becky, Victoria and Mary, were all purebloods (and proud of it) and were all related to one another by some distant cousin or something. Poppy didn't usually mind them and just let everything slide. They hated being ignored. Usually they left her alone but a few times a month, they would start up about her clothes, hair or anything, really, just to get a reaction from Poppy. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction.

As Poppy made her way towards The Great Hall for breakfast, she noticed a lot of students whispering and pointing at her, some of them laughing. And it wasn't just Slytherins, all the houses seemed to be in on the joke.

The Great Hall was already packed with students and they were making a lot of noise. Poppy noticed many of them looking at her. Before sitting down, she noticed Grace across the hall, waving her over. Poppy headed for the Hufflepuff table, where she saw many friendly faces, though a lot of them looked worried for some reason. Grace got up and hurried Poppy to the side. She didn't look quite her happy self today.

"There's a rumor. About you," Grace stated.

"That explains it, everyone's been looking at me funny all morning," Poppy said. It wasn't anything new, there had been rumors about her before and it was always something stupid and quickly forgotten, so she wasn't worried. Students would soon move on to something and someone else.

"It's sort of a serious one this time," Grace said rather morbidly. Usually the two of them would laugh at whatever was being said about them.

"Well, what is it?" Poppy asked, impatient.

"Poppy, people are saying you had sex with Flint for a spot on the team. And that you're still doing it," Grace responded.

"WHAT?" Poppy exclaimed, it was the only thing she could think of to say in the situation. It seemed ridiculous, who would believe that? She had never even been kissed and suddenly everyone believed she was having sex! "That's... Ridiculous."

"Yep, I know," Grace said. "I already told everybody in Hufflepuff it's not true and if anyone spreads this rumor, they'll have me to answer to."

"Who told you?" Poppy asked. She wanted to know who had started it. She suspected the girls in her dormitory might have been behind it.

"Uh, I overheard some Ravenclaws talking about it earlier. They said they heard from Roger Davies who heard it from someone on his team who heard it from his Slytherin girlfriend who heard it from..." Grace hesitated.

"Who? Was it Victoria?" Poppy asked when a horrible thought popped in her head. "Oh, Grace, don't tell me it was Flint himself!"

"No, no, course not. It was Draco Malfoy," Grace said and quickly added, "but don't go punch him or anything, you'll get in trouble."

"Why does everyone think I'll punch Malfoy?" Poppy questioned.

"Everyone?" Grace asked, confused.

"Never mind, I have to go eat something before I can even process this information," Poppy said and headed for her table.

Students were whispering when she arrived and sat down. Draco Malfoy looked even more smug than usual and her roommates looked both disgusted and overwhelmingly happy. Everybody fell quiet, turning their heads towards the door. Quietly they began whispering again. Poppy's eyes were fixated on the plate in front of her, she was wondering if a chocolate muffin would be a good breakfast. Suddenly someone was standing next to her.

"Is this seat taken?" Flint asked. Poppy lifted her head and saw he was smiling. She looked across the table and saw everyone staring but Flint didn't seem to notice.

"I'll take that silence as a yes," Flint said and sat down next to her.

"Um, yeah, it's fine," Poppy muttered.

"How's the happy couple doing this fine morning?" Becky asked from across the table, flicking her long black hair.

"What?" Flint asked, completely confused. "What the hell are you talking about? And who are you?"

Neither Becky nor Poppy had a chance to provide Flint with answers as somebody swooped in and in a flash Flint was on the floor. After the initial shock of Flint disappearing, Poppy noticed he was now pinned down on the floor under Oliver, who was punching Flint's face to a bloody pulp.

"How dare you do that to my sister?" Oliver shouted.

"Ollie!" Poppy screamed. "Get off him!"

But it didn't help. Other students had rushed to see what was happening and some Gryffindors were cheering Oliver on. Cedric Diggory emerged from the crowd to try to pull the two apart but was pushed back by Oliver. Suddenly Oliver was floating in mid-air and everyone saw the teachers had finally arrived. The whole fight couldn't have lasted more than a minute. Flint was lying on the floor, it didn't seem as though he had fought back much as Oliver was practically undamaged.

Dumbledore lowered his hand quickly and Oliver dropped to the floor with a thud. Dumbledore whispered something to professors McGonagall and Snape. McGonagall asked Oliver to come with her as Snape helped Flint off the floor.

"Ms. Wood," Snape said, turning to Poppy. "I think we might also need you."

They exited the Great Hall and Dumbledore quickly followed. Oliver, Poppy and Flint followed the professors to the nearest classroom where they were told to sit down. Flint's left eye was barely open as it had swollen so much and his lips were bloody. He hadn't said a word yet and neither had Oliver.

Dumbledore sat behind the professor's desk. He looked disappointed more than anything, Dumbledore was rarely angry. McGonagall's lips were tightly pursed together and Snape's face was red, as if he was trying hard not to yell from the top of his lungs.

"So," Dumbledore spoke. "What happened? Mr. Wood?"

"Ask Flint," Oliver snapped.

"Well, Mr. Flint, can you tell me what happened?" Dumbledore asked and turned to face Flint.

"Honestly, I have no idea," Flint answered and proceeded to wipe some of the blood on his sleeve. "I was just sitting there, trying to enjoy my breakfast when he attacked me."

"Liar", Oliver muttered. "I know what you've done."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Flint asked, puzzled. He spit out a broken tooth. Snape glared at Oliver.

"Ms. Wood, do you know what happened since these two idiots clearly don't?" Snape asked Poppy. She looked down at her feet.

"There's this rumor," Poppy said' fiddling with her thumbs. She was embarrassed to have to talk to her professors about this. "That I got on the Quidditch team because I... Um, how should I put this? Because I, uh, shared my bed with Flint."

McGonagall gasped, Snape's eye twitched and Flint looked as shocked as he possibly could with his swollen and bloody face. It seemed clear he had never heard this before.

"Which I didn't," Poppy added quickly. "And the rumor got around and I guess somebody told Oliver and he decided to beat up Flint."

"Is this true, Mr. Wood?" McGonagall asked.

"Actually, the version I heard was a bit different and I think it might be true," Oliver said. "I was told Flint was going around saying Poppy had... Done that with him... And that she still does it and that's why he keeps her on the team. Obviously I don't think Poppy would ever do it but Flint is the kind of person to say she had."

"No!" Flint shouted and got up from his chair so fast the chair fell down. "Absolutely not, never!"

Oliver also got up and was walking towards Flint when Flint grabbed Oliver's collar and ran him to the wall.

"I don't care if you think I'm a troll or laugh at me behind my back," Flint said through his teeth. "I'm not trying to be your friend but I'm not trying to be your mortal enemy either, I try and save that for the pitch. Spreading rumors about your little sister would be a great way to get myself killed and I'm not quite so dumb."

Snape pulled Flint away and made them both sit down. Poppy explained that from what she'd heard, it had apparently been Draco Malfoy's rumor. Oliver was given two weeks of detention and Flint was given one. McGonagall told Flint to go to the hospital wing and decided it would be best if Oliver went later that day if he needed to. Oliver headed towards the Gryffindor common room but since the hospital wing was in the same direction as the Slytherin common room, Poppy and Flint had to walk down the same hall.

"I'm really sorry," Poppy said. "About Oliver. He's a bit overprotective."

"It's fine," Flint mumbled.

They arrived at the staircase leading to the dungeons.

"I guess this is where we part ways," Flint said.

"I can come with you, if you want," Poppy offered.

"It's fine, you don't have to," Flint said.

And he left. Poppy quietly muttered goodbye and headed down the staircase. It had certainly been an eventful morning so far.

Arriving in her dormitory, she found Mary, Victoria and Becky all sitting on Mary's bed, as if they'd been waiting for her.

"How did it go? Did the professors believe you're still an innocent teacher's pet?" Becky asked with a snarky tone.

"Shut up, Becky," Poppy snapped.

"So it's true! Because we weren't quite sure but I told people, look who we're talking about, of course it's true," Victoria said.

"Since you surely won't take my word for it, you can just go ask Flint and he'll tell you the truth," Poppy said with a sigh.

"You think he would stand up for you? These kinds of rumors, true or not, only make him look better," Mary said.

"Oh, I guess you're right," Poppy said with a fake frown. Mary scoffed.

Poppy gathered some books, got her bag and headed to the library to study. She thought it might be the only place where nobody would talk to her and even if they talked about her, it was the library and they'd have to be quiet. Poppy was sure Oliver had told all the Gryffindors the rumor wasn't true but the rest of the school probably still thought they were and Poppy wasn't counting on the Gryffindors even believing Oliver. She even got dirty looks from a few Hufflepuffs as she entered the library.

Poppy sighed and got to work. She tried to block all the stares and whispers by delving into her Defense Against the Dark Arts course work. By midday, as Poppy snapped out of her study trance, it seemed as if people were still talking about her and Flint. Clearly this wasn't one of those rumors that are quickly forgotten.

Deciding she needed a break from everything, Poppy made her way back to the Slytherin common room, where she found Flint sitting by himself. He was reading a book. Poppy recognized it as the seventh year Herbology book, as she had browsed through Oliver's copy of it out of sheer interest before the beginning of the school year. Poppy sat down on the couch opposite the one Flint was sitting on.

"That's a good book," Poppy said and Flint looked up, clearly surprised to see her there, as if he had not heard her come in.

"It's alright, I guess," Flint answered.

"Do you like Herbology?" Poppy asked, trying to stir up conversation. She remembered how professor Sprout had asked Flint about borrowing her books.

"It's alright," Flint said.

They sat in silence for awhile with Flint reading his book and Poppy desperately trying to think of something to say.

"I've noticed people are still talking about us," Poppy finally said.

"Alright," Flint answered without even looking up from his book.

Silence again. Flint had been rather nice to her the past few days, Poppy couldn't understand what was going on.

"Are you mad at me or something?" Poppy asked.

"Why would I be?" Flint asked, now slightly raising an eye.

"You're kind of acting as if you're mad at me," Poppy remarked. Flint looked up and looked at Poppy with his usual stern expression that made first year students cry.

"I'm not mad at you but I'm still not your friend either," Flint said. "We have practice tomorrow, don't be late."

"No, that's not enough," Poppy argued. "You were all smiles and happiness this morning, what changed?"

"Perhaps the fact that the exact instant I was nice to you, this happened," Flint answered, motioning to his face. "Also, I was accused of many things I wouldn't want anybody to think true. So, you can probably understand why I'm not jumping up at the chance to be your friend. So far you've been nothing but trouble."

Poppy was stunned. Flint got up and walked to his dormitory.

"Practice, tomorrow. If you're late, you're out," he said on his way out.

Poppy wasn't too excited for practice. She was sure one of her lovely team mates was going to kill, or at least seriously injure her. Tomorrow was going to be a great day.


	7. Bludgered

**Chapter 7: Bludgered**

Poppy was laying in bed at the hospital wing. She was starting to think joining the Quidditch team was a bad idea. The thought occurred to her right as her teams beater swung a bludger towards her head. She was able to swerve so it didn't hit her in the head but instead broke three bones in her ribcage. Madam Pomfrey told her she had passed out and fallen from her broom.

Oliver had been to see her with Grace. He had seemed overjoyed when Poppy told him she had blocked most of the quaffles during her first practice with the Slytherin team. Oliver didn't seem to care much about the fact that she was in pain, insisting Poppy tell him everything and describe the situation second by second. Madam Pomfrey finally told him to get out when he started running around the room, re-enacting some of his finest Quidditch moments.

Unfortunately Madam Pomfrey also kicked out Grace, so Poppy could get some rest. Grace had brought her some chocolate frogs and an issue of Teen Witches Weekly so she wouldn't be bored.

Flint, however, had not been to see her, which Poppy thought was very rude. He was her captain, after all.

"Don't you think it's a bit rude when somebody gets injured and the captain of the team just ignores that person and their injury?" Poppy asked Madam Pomfrey, huffing with anger.

"What? Oh, you mean Mr. Flint? I wouldn't say he ignored you, he did carry you here and waited for an hour to see if you would wake up," Madam Pomfrey answered. "Then he had to leave for detention, I think."

"Oh," Poppy answered, a little stunned.

Madam Pomfrey began folding bedsheets. Poppy picked up the magazine Gracie had brought and flipped through it. It featured some of the newest players drafted by different Quidditch teams and Poppy was immediately interested. She was, however, disappointed when the article only discussed things such as the players' favourite desserts and whether or not they had any pets. It didn't even feature any players from Poppy's favourite team, The Falmouth Falcons. Poppy felt herself getting sleepy so she closed her eyes and hoped for sweet dreams. The pain in her ribcage was almost gone and she hoped to get out of the hospital wing by tomorrow.

Poppy was wakened in the middle of the night by a loud ruckus. There were no other patients in the hospital wing and there was a prisoner loose from Azkaban, so out of instinct, Poppy stopped breathing and was as still as possible. Her heart was beating fast. As if she hadn't been through enough already, now she had to worry about a murderer possibly roaming the hospital wing? After the ruckus she heard a man swearing but couldn't see anyone as the room was pitch black dark. She silently grabbed her wand from under her pillow and gripped it tightly, pointing it at the darkness.

"Lumos," the man said and a flash of light erupted from the tip of his wand. Poppy, still pointing her wand, now saw Marcus Flint standing in front of her, looking confused. His eyes shifted from Poppy's wand to her eyes and then back to the wand. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I thought you were Sirius Black," she responded and put down her wand. He chuckled.

"Right. He after you, too, then?" he asked, jokingly. Poppy sat up on her bed and rolled her eyes at him. "I guess you're feeling better?"

"I'm alright," Poppy responded. "What are you doing here? Other than giving me nightmares?"

"I'm your captain, and it's my responsibility to make sure you're alright," Flint said, sitting down on the bed next to hers.

"Well I am, so you can just leave," Poppy said snarkily. "And you shouldn't be here, you could get another week of detention if someone catches you."

"Are you worried about me, Wood?" Flint smirked. Poppy ignored him, crossing her arms. He pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with his wand.

"You can't smoke in here!" Poppy gasped.

"As if I care," he said.

"I have a name, you know," she said, watching him blow smoke in the air. He raised an eyebrow. "You called me Wood. That's what you call Oliver. I prefer Poppy."

"You call me Flint, remember?" he replied.

"Everyone calls you Flint," Poppy said.

"That's because they're scared of me," Flint said. "But you're not."

"True, I don't find you particularly scary," Poppy said matter-of-factly. "I'll call you Marcus if you call me Poppy."

The scent and smoke of Marcus's cigarette lingered in the air. Poppy fiddled with her thumbs and was a little embarrassed by the teddy bear pyjamas Madam Pomfrey had given her to sleep in.

"So, between now and yesterday, what changed?" she asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Well, when I saw you falling off your broom and smash into the ground, I wanted to kill Derrick. I'm usually not a violent person," Marcus replied.

Poppy laughed and he smirked again.

"I realised you might need some protection to make it out of this team alive," he said.

"So, we're friends? Poppy asked.

"No, definitely not," Marcus answered. "I'll tolerate you for the sake of team spirit so they don't try to kill you."

"Alright," Poppy said, amused.

"Just don't expect me to be nice to you and we'll be just fine."

He got up and turned around to leave but then remembered something.

"Oh, yeah, I brought you this," he said and handed her a clothing item of some kind. "The pyjamas Madam Pomfrey has are not the most comfortable."

"Thanks," Poppy said.

Marcus left and Poppy changed her pyjama into the t-shirt Marcus had brought. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror by the moonlight and smiled when she noticed the print "Falmouth Falcons" on the shirt.

The next day, Poppy was sitting in the corner of the library with Grace, trying to be as quiet as possible. Grace was supposed to be working on her assignment for Defense Against the Dark Arts since it was already a week late but professor Lupin had given her an extension. Teachers had always had a soft spot for Grace because of her bright blue eyes and all the sweets she carried with her. Poppy was trying to help her friend concentrate on the assignment but Grace's mind kept wandering to other places.

"For the last time, we're just friends," Poppy said and looked at her friend with a serious face. "And we're really not even friends, we're... Tolerating each other."

"That makes no sense," Grace said.

"Grace, you're supposed to be working!" Poppy said.

"I just want you to understand that he brought you his shirt," Grace said.

"So?"

"It's his shirt! Boys don't hand those out to just anybody."

"I'm going to give it back."

"Bloody hell you are."

Poppy was about to argue her friend when she noticed her staring at something near the Potions section of the library. "What is it?"

"Your captain is over there," Grace said. Poppy turned her head and saw Marcus waving her over.

"I should probably go," Poppy said, got up and walked over to Marcus who pulled out a frazzled Derrick, their teams beater, from behind a bookshelf. He was a large boy, nearly as wide as he was tall, with sandy, coarse hair.

"Now, remember what we talked about?" Marcus asked him. Derrick was looking at Poppy smugly so Marcus punched him in the stomach.

"Flint!" Poppy screamed. Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"Please don't yell, Poppy, this is the library," he said and turned back to Derrick who was now whincing with pain. "Now do you remember?"

"Fine!" Derrick yelled and everyone at the library was now looking at their little scene. "What are you all staring at?"

"May I ask what is happening here?" Poppy questioned.

"He's apologizing, aren't you, Derrick?" Marcus said.

"I guess I'm sorry for accidentally hitting you with the bludger," Derrick said with a grin.

"Accidentally? You call that an accident, I saw you aim it right at me!" Poppy yelled.

"It was an accident, I apologized, can I go now?" Derrick said and Marcus nodded. Marcus let go of him and he hurried away quickly.

"You told me you wanted to kill him and that's all I get? A lousy, forced apology?" Poppy asked, annoyed.

"I can't kill him, he's our best beater. He knows, if he does anything similar again, I won't leave it at three punches."

"You only punched him once."

"Right. Yeah," he muttered.


	8. Mates

**Chapter 8: Mates**

The next few weeks just flew by as Marcus had the team training almost everyday, occasionally before the sun was even up. Poppy's team mates weren't exactly warming up to her, but after what Marcus did to Derrick, their behaviour had changed for the better. Marcus did his best to try and include her, making her work as hard as anyone at practice and treating her as though she was just another boy, and others followed his lead.

Poppy, not having much experience with boys, was surprised to learn how openly they shared their thoughts in the locker room, even with her present. They would talk about girls, rating their looks or discussing who snogged whom, when and where. She was used to Grace sharing every little detail of her romances, but getting to hear the other side was fascinating. The boys never held back due to her being there, sometimes they were downright vulgar, though Poppy noticed Adrian was always quiet and Marcus wasn't as crude as she had thought, only chiming in once in a while to comment on someone's story, never sharing any of his own.

Poppy walked with Marcus back to the castle. They had just finished two hours of practice and supper would be served soon. Both of them were starving. Quidditch practice with Marcus was a lot more brutal than it had ever been with Oliver. They had often practiced at home and Poppy had been to see the Gryffindor team's training session a few times. Oliver, though firm, was also encouraging and helpful while Marcus was rough and demanding. The team would run through every play until it was perfect, even if it meant being late for supper or breakfast.

"You're awfully quiet whenever they talk about girls," Poppy said, meaning her team mates.

"Would you prefer I spoke like Montague?" Marcus asked.

"Oh, no, he's disgusting. But seriously, have you ever had a girlfriend?"

"That is none of your damn business."

"Fine, forget I asked."

Poppy had been getting to know Marcus for the last few weeks but it was proving to be quite a challenging task, as he didn't really want to talk about himself. So far she had found out Marcus liked Herbology, mostly because it was completely different from Quidditch, and that whenever asked about his family, he would get angry and leave. He was also an avid supporter of The Falmouth Falcons, not surprising at all since his playing style was very similar. Poppy also knew he kept a bottle of firewhiskey hidden in his trunk, "for emergencies."

They sat down opposite each other for supper.

"You know what your problem is?" Marcus said while filling up his plate with mashed potatoes. "You're too nosy."

"You're too private," she replied.

He chuckled. Poppy enjoyed these kinds of moments, where she saw what was under the tough shell of Marcus Flint. She had found that the best way to get information from him, was to tell him about herself. Usually, he didn't seem to care much or looked as though he was barely listening, but he never left or told her to stop bothering him. And rarely, if he was in a good mood, he'd share something about himself.

"Would you say we're friends?" Poppy asked after they had finished supper and were walking to the dungeons. "I know you've been saying for two weeks how you don't want any friends, but you spend time with me and we talk, so I'm just wondering..."

"We're mates," he said.

"That's another word for friend."

"Friends are for girls and little children, we are mates."

"Fine."

"Fine. And stop asking so many questions, bloody hell."

Inside, Poppy was beaming but on the outside, she remained calm and collected. She could finally say she had more than one friend.

The girls in Poppy's dormitory had teased her about Marcus a few times. They had said they couldn't understand what Poppy saw in Marcus since according to them, he was ugly. Poppy had tried explaining to them that she was not dating Marcus but they didn't believe her, especially after the rumor that had circulated. Their comments had actually gotten Poppy to think about Marcus's appearance. She had noticed his arms before and now, because of practice, she had seen the rest of his upper body too. He was definitely strong and muscular but not to the point of obnoxious. Poppy had to admit to herself Marcus' body was attractive. But it wasn't his body that made everyone call him a troll.

She had never thought of Marcus as ugly. During her first years she thought he looked scary with his signature sneer that rivaled the one of Draco Malfoy's and slightly trollish with crooked teeth but never ugly. His teeth were still slightly crooked but they looked a lot better than before and his nose looked as though it had been broken a few times. His beard was usually unshaven for a few days at a time. He wasn't conventionally attractive but there was something about his rugged appearance that appealed to Poppy. She thought it was only his reputation and the sneer that made a lot of students scared of him. Now that she knew him better, she found herself often thinking he looked fine. Sometimes even attractive, especially when he talked about Quidditch and got so intense he almost seemed angry. Poppy didn't think it was normal of her to be attracted to her angry friend, mate, whatever, so she didn't tell anyone. Especially Grace. Grace would never shut up if she knew what Poppy was thinking.

She was laying on her bed, once again thinking about Marcus's appearance. She didn't know why this was such a frequent topic in her mind and caused tingles in her stomach. When Marcus smiled, which wasn't that often, Poppy always wanted to smile, too. When he took off his shirt, her concentration was lost. She was sure he had seen her stare but hadn't said anything. Poppy was thankful for that.

Poppy had to admit she fancied Marcus. This had never really happened to her before, as most boys ignored her and she ignored them. Except Adrian, of course, but Poppy had never thought of him as more than a friend. She didn't know anything about relationships as her only examples came from people such as her friend Grace, whom she loved and cared for but whose longest relationship had lasted approximately two weeks. Grace always said she kept picking the wrong boys. Poppy had also seen her brother take a different girl to Hogsmeade every time they were allowed to go but none of them seemed to stick around.

"They all want me to spend so much time with them, I have other things to do," Oliver always said. "They don't understand my priorities."

Poppy sighed. She didn't know anything about relationships and clearly nobody else did either. Marcus had so many bad qualities, he was definitely not boyfriend material. The drinking, the fighting and always acting in the the most stereotypical Slytherin way were just a few of the things Marcus was known for.

A scream coming from the common room interrupted her thoughts and she decided to go see what was happening. As Poppy entered the room, she immediately saw a huge group of people huddled around Draco Malfoy, their teams seeker. Pansy Parkinson was standing right next to him, looking horrified and Poppy assumed she was the one screaming. Marcus was standing in a corner, looking worried and lost in thought. She went over to ask what was going on.

"Remember when Malfoy hurt his arm with the hippogriff on the second day of school?" Marcus replied.

"Yeah. Almost two months ago."

"True, but he's been complaining about it ever since. Somebody just accidentally bumped his arm and he's obviously faking the pain but if he keeps up this act, we won't be able to play against Gryffindor next week and your brother will probably think I'm scared of him and his little team and his little Potter. I could just hit him right now."

"What, Oliver? Since when do you care what he thinks?" Poppy asked and realized this was a rather stupid question since Marcus and Olivers rivalry had been going on ever since they were both chosen as captains for their house teams. From that point forward they were obsessed with each other.

"No, I could punch Malfoy, but Wood sounds like a good option, too," Marcus replied with a grin.

"Why are you always such a git?" Poppy snapped. Marcus looked at her surprised.

"It was a joke," he said, slightly annoyed. Poppy knew he didn't like it when people questioned him or his actions.

"Yeah, right," Poppy remarked and turned on her heels to go back to her dormitory.

Poppy fell on her bed and sighed. He was such an idiot, and she hated the fact she fancied him. It wasn't just physical, either, she actually liked his personality, at least during the times when he wasn't acting like a typical tough guy.


	9. Hogsmeade

**Chapter 9: Hogsmeade**

It was finally time for the first Hogsmeade visit of the school year and Poppy was going with Grace, as usual. They always did the same things, went to Honeydukes to stock up on sweets, had butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks and went to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop to make fun of the lovey-dovey couples. After all this, Grace usually met up with some boy and today would be no different. Poppy usually spent her alone time browsing the shops but this time Marcus had promised to keep Poppy company while Grace had her date.

"Grace is abandoning me for a boy, yet again," she had said.

"If you promise not to ask so many questions, I'll keep you company," he had replied.

This was before she had gotten mad at him, and she didn't know if their plans were still on.

Oliver was going as well, his date this time was Alice Clearwater, a sixth year Gryffindor girl who, in Poppy's opinion, was by far the prettiest of Oliver's dates ever. It didn't matter, though, as there probably wouldn't be a second date.

Poppy and Grace had already visited their routine stops and were having tea at Madam Puddifoot's, waiting for Grace's date.

"What was his name again?" Poppy asked.

"Matthew... Something," Grace said. "He's a sixth year Hufflepuff."

"I can't believe you're having your date here. We hate this place,". Poppy said, gazing at the pink decor and lace tablecloths.

"Okay, it's tacky. But he invited me here. Where's your brother taking his girl of the day?" Grace asked.

"I don't know, he never tells me anymore."

"That's probably because we'd go there and mock him."

The boy named Matthew arrived just as he was supposed to and Poppy left the two of them to enjoy their heart-shaped biscuits. She stepped out the door and discovered Marcus was there, waiting for her.

"I didn't think you'd come," she said in a surprised tone.

"Because of yesterday? I'm not that easily offended," he said.

Poppy smiled at him and he smiled back, slightly.

"Butterbeer or shopping?" Marcus asked.

"Butterbeer, please. I can't afford to even look at a shop window right now," Poppy said.

And with that, they headed to The Three Broomsticks but stopped to admire the display in the Honeydukes window.

"I want to buy that," Poppy said, motioning to the huge milk chocolate bar with white chocolate swirls in the window. "But chocolate is apparently bad for you."

"So they say," Marcus replied.

In reality, Poppy couldn't afford to buy the chocolate. In fact, she couldn't afford anything at the moment. After buying her school books for the year, she wasn't exactly left with a lot of spending money. She had budgeted away enough money for a few small things, such as butterbeers or a chocolate frog or two but anything beyond that was just unimaginable. Most of the earnings from her summer job had gone towards paying for her and Oliver's room at The Leaky Cauldron.

When they arrived at The Three Broomsticks, Marcus surprised Poppy by paying for both of their drinks.

"Shut up and drink it before I take it back," he simply said as Poppy protested. Grace always said boys were supposed to pay for everything on a date but this wasn't a date and Poppy didn't want anyone to think otherwise, so she was trying to convince herself he was just being friendly. They sat in the darkest corner of the pub, the table had been Poppy's choice but she was starting to regret it. She didn't want people to think they were trying to hide.

"You never told me about you and Adrian," Marcus said, interrupting Poppy's thoughts.

"What? What is there to tell?" Poppy asked.

"Well, the way he talks about you, I get the feeling you were... Involved?" he said.

"No! Never! Is he saying we were?"

"Well, no, it's just, he kind of praises you a lot."

Poppy rolled her eyes casually while in her mind she wanted to seriously injure Adrian for making Marcus think they were ever together.

"We were friends, for a short time," Poppy said simply. "Then he tried to kiss me, I swerved the other way and after that we weren't really friends anymore."

"Oh," Marcus said.

"Told you there was nothing to tell."

"No, this is interesting. When was this?" Marcus asked. Poppy thought he was being way too interested in one almost-kiss between her and Adrian, especially when she was usually the one asking questions. Today, he seemed more talkative than ever.

"Last year. Did he ask you to talk to me about him?" Poppy said, slightly annoyed.

"No, of course not. It's just, whenever I see him, he just goes on and on about you," Marcus said. "And knowing there's nothing going on just makes it weird."

Poppy didn't know how to respond. She had known Adrian still had feelings for her, but didn't think he went around telling people. Knowing he did made her slightly uncomfortable.

"He only says nice things, though" Marcus said, almost reading her mind.

"Yep, as if that makes it normal," Poppy replied. "Can we talk about something else, please?"

"Sure. So, where's your brother? I figured he'd be trailing us but I haven't seen him," Marcus asked, half-jokingly.

"He's on a date," Poppy said, slowly sipping her butterbeer.

"A date? With a girl? That's a first."

"He's had many first dates but no second ones. Too busy, he says."

"Aye, you're never too busy to enjoy the company of a beautiful woman."

"Haven't seen you around one, either," Poppy quipped.

"What do you think I'm doing right now?"

Poppy was taken aback by this, her cheeks flushed, and Marcus clearly noticed as he started laughing.

"Relax, it was a joke."

Poppy breathed a sigh of relief and laughed with him but she couldn't help being a little embarrassed. What if he knew exactly what she was thinking? What if he wanted to tease her?

Later that day, after supper, there was an incident. Sirius Black had apparently broken into the Gryffindor Tower and so Professor Dumbledore made all the students sleep in the Great Hall as the castle was thoroughly searched for the murderer. To Poppy, it was actually rather fun to spend the night somewhere other than the dungeons, and lots of students stayed up whispering far longer than they were allowed. So did Poppy and Grace.

"I'm sure he meant it, it was his subtle way of saying you're beautiful," Grace whispered.

"No, he was just messing with me, as a mate," Poppy replied quietly, tying her hair into a bun. They were trying to be as quiet as possible, since Oliver's sleeping bag was no more than ten students away. He looked to be sleeping already, but Poppy wouldn't have been surprised to know he was eavesdropping on her conversation.

"If you say so, but I saw the way he looked at you when you came in," Grace said.

Poppy had been wearing the shirt Marcus had given her almost non-stop as her pyjama top, and tonight was no exception. Grace was already in The Great Hall, when Poppy arrived, and she absolutely insisted there had been some sort of look on Marcus' face when he had seen her, wearing the shirt. Poppy had not seen Marcus, as The Hall was packed with students, and had a hard time believing Grace, though she did have an eye for this sort of thing.

"I'm telling you, he likes you," Grace mumbled before falling asleep.

**A/N: **I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you that have read, reviewed, followed or favorited my story. It means a lot:)


	10. Marcus and Oliver

**Chapter 10: Marcus and Oliver**

Marcus Flint was not a guy who thought things through. His Quidditch plays were usually based on force and speed, rather than tactics and well thought out moves. When he wanted to punch someone, he did it without thinking about the consequences, and when ever he tried cheating on a test, it never occurred to him he might be caught. He was not the typical, calculating Slytherin, so, when he decided to tell Oliver Wood how he felt about Oliver's sister, he had not thought it through. After he did it, he thought to himself it would be a good time to start thinking ahead.

His original plan, actually, was to tell Oliver that Malfoy's arm was still hurt and Slytherin would not be able to play Gryffindor in two days. Of course, Malfoy's arm was actually fine and the slimy little git was completely faking the whole thing but Marcus couldn't do anything about it. He had tried telling Malfoy to stop acting, so they could play but Malfoy had, as always, started yapping about how powerful his father was and what he could do to Marcus and how his father didn't buy the team brand new broomsticks so his precious Draco could be treated this way.

Marcus had gone down to the Quidditch pitch after the Gryffindor teams practice and decided to tell Oliver there. The rest of the team had already left but Oliver had stayed to work on some new plays in the locker room. In a way, Marcus respected how hard Oliver worked for his team, for victory. They were the same, but completely different.

"Wood," Marcus said to get Oliver's attention. Oliver lifted his head, saw who it was and rolled his eyes.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Did you hear about Malfoy's arm?" Marcus said. Oliver nodded so he continued, "Yeah, well, apparently it's still hurting so in the first game you'll be playing Hufflepuff instead."

"What? Are you out of your mind? You know as well as I do that idiots arm is just fine!" Oliver yelled. Marcus didn't really want to comment on this, so he decided to change the subject and, unfortunately for him, the first thing that popped into his head was Poppy.

"So, is Poppy mad at me for something?" he asked. Oliver raised an eyebrow. "She seems mad."

"How would I know, she never tells me anything anymore," Oliver stated. "But if she is, you probably deserve it."

Marcus thought so, too, but unfortunately he didn't know what he had done to make Poppy mad. For the last few days Poppy had been yelling at him whenever they saw each other but it never seemed to be about anything in particular. This kind of behaviour was new to Marcus, since before, if someone was mad at him, they usually made it clear why. It was slowly starting to annoy him and the thought had crossed his mind, that maybe Poppy had decided she didn't want to be his friend after all. Marcus didn't know what was actually happening but this was the best explanation he'd come up with. He didn't know what had changed since Hogsmeade, but something was different. He had even thought maybe Poppy had taken his comment about beautiful women too seriously. It was another one of those things where he immediately regretted it as the words left his mouth, and tried to play it off as a joke.

He didn't put Poppy on the team because he thought she was pretty, though he did. His decision was mostly based on her skills and a little on the fact that she didn't let him say no. She was extremely stubborn and he never gave in on anything but made an exception for her. Marcus never thought he and Poppy would become friends and he didn't think spending a lot of time with her at practice would affect his feelings in anyway, but it did.

He liked Poppy from the minute she told him his team was horrible and spending time with her only made things worse. He tried remaining distant, not opening up to her, tried treating her just as he treated everyone else but it was hard. He wanted to tell her things about himself but didn't know how. He'd never felt this way towards a girl before. He'd never even had a real friend before and he wasn't supposed to have friends, he was the biggest, baddest Slytherin around. Other students feared him, his teammates only spoke to him because they had to and girls stayed far away from him. He had never needed friends. However, slowly he learned what she was like, and to him, she was amazing, funny and called him out on things he deserved to be called out on. She was his friend. His absolutely gorgeous, amazing friend.

"Did you want something else?" Oliver asked, snapping Marcus out of his thoughts.

"I like your sister," Marcus blurted out, once again before thinking about what he was saying.

It took Oliver two seconds to realize what Marcus had said and another two to knock him down to the floor. Oliver punched Marcus, who tried throwing Oliver off him but didn't succeed. Oliver went in for another punch, Marcus dodged and Oliver hit the floor instead. This was Marcus' chance to grab Oliver's arm with one hand and hit his face with another. Oliver fell off with a thud and Marcus stood up.

"Look, I'm not going to do anything about it," he said, wiping the blood from his nose with his sleeve. Oliver got up and looked as though he was ready to go again.

"Then why did you tell me?" Oliver yelled. "Do you want me to hate you even more? It doesn't even matter, really, I guarantee she's only your friend out of pity."

"I wasn't going to do anything!" Marcus tried to explain. This was not going too well.

"And you won't or I'll kill you. And you better make damn sure that so-called friendship of yours ends," Oliver demanded.

"You know, I don't respond well to threats and I especially hate the way you try to run Poppy's life for her," Marcus said. He was completely calm, even though in his head he wanted to smash Oliver's head in with a beater's bat.

Their conversation was interrupted by the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, that had booked the pitch for the night.

"Why are you all standing in the doorway?" Cedric Diggory asked, as he walked in behind his team and pushed some of them out of the way in order to enter the room. His team was looking at Marcus with blood dripping from his nose and then at Oliver, who was holding his other hand as it was clearly hurt and bruised.

"What is going on here?" Cedric asked, when he saw his fellow captains.

"Nothing," Oliver replied and glared at Marcus.

"Yep, nothing," Marcus said, clenching his fist. He headed for the door and the Hufflepuffs immediately moved from his path like scared, jumpy animals. When he was almost out of the room already, he turned to Cedric and said one more thing, "Oh, right, Diggory, you're playing Gryffindor in two days. Good luck with that."

Marcus didn't want to go to the hospital wing as he didn't think his nose was broken and he could handle a little pain. Instead he headed towards the Slytherin common room and his dormitory. As he was rushing through the common room, he saw Poppy writing something, possibly an essay. She looked up at him, shocked at his bloody appearance, but he didn't stop. He went down to his dormitory, sat on his bed and took out an old shirt to stop the bleeding with. Poppy barged in through the door.

"I don't think you're supposed to be here," Marcus said but Poppy ignored him.

"What happened to you?" she yelled.

"Nothing," he said and shrugged. "Really."

"You think I believe that?" Poppy asked and sat next to him on the bed. She took the shirt from Marcus and wiped some of the blood off his face and hands.

"No," Marcus muttered. "I went to tell your brother about the new situation with the matches."

"And he hit you over that?" Poppy yelled, bouncing up from the bed. Marcus took her hand and pulled her back down.

"No," he said. "He told me to stay away from you."

"He's been telling me that for a while now but I didn't think he'd resort to violence," Poppy said.

"Uh, no, I punched him first," Marcus lied. He thought it might be best to step back and avoid anymore trouble. For effect, he added "The little git deserved it."

"Oh," Poppy said quietly. Marcus was still holding her hand but now she quickly pulled hers away. She got up, handed Marcus the bloody shirt and said, "Here's your shirt. Like you said, I'm not supposed to be here."


	11. Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff

**Chapter 11: Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff**

It was a nice Saturday afternoon and the students of Hogwarts were pouring out of the castle and making their way towards the Quidditch pitch. Gryffindor was playing Hufflepuff in the first match of the year and Poppy knew Oliver was nervous. The Slytherin house had won the Cup for the last seven years and this year would be Oliver's last chance to go down in Hogwarts Quidditch history as a captain that actually led his team to victory.

Poppy was walking to the pitch with Grace but she was not planning on sitting with her friend. During her first year she had made the mistake of sitting in the Hufflepuff section and being there with her friend had made it almost impossible for her to follow the matches. Grace didn't know much about Quidditch and had an irritating tendency of cheering at times when nothing was actually happening.

Grace had been asking what happened to Oliver and Marcus' faces, so Poppy told Grace what Marcus had told her.

"So, are you mad at him?" Grace asked and Poppy shrugged.

"Which one?" she replied and added, "Though I guess it doesn't matter. I'm mad at Oliver for trying to run my life for me and I'm mad at Marcus, uh, Flint for being the violent moron that he is and I'm mad at myself for ever fancying him."

"Wait, what?" Grace shrieked and a few nearby Ravenclaws turned to look at them. Grace stuck her tongue out and the Ravenclaws hurried away.

"I guess I should have told you, right?" Poppy said.

"So, I was right! There is something going on," Grace said cheerfully.

"Nothing is going on," Poppy said. "He's old."

"True, he's older than Oliver," Grace agreed.

"Not by much, just a few months."

"What? Oh right, you and Oliver were both born in November. So... He's eighteen, then. You're almost fifteen. That's three years, that's nothing!"

"Maybe to you. To Oliver it would be death. Besides, he doesn't like me in that way. I'm sure of it."

They finally reached the pitch and parted ways. Grace made her way towards the other Hufflepuffs while Poppy climbed the nearest steps up to the Slytherin section, thinking at the same time who she would sit next to. Usually she just got there early enough that all the seats were empty and she could sit in the front and follow the matches, and whoever had to sit next to her would just have to deal with it. It was starting to rain a little bit.

Luckily, the front seats were still empty. A lot of the Slytherins hadn't bothered showing up to the match early, as it was only Gryffindor and Hufflepuff playing. Poppy sat in the front, as always. She could see Grace on the other side of the pitch, standing up and wailing both her arms in the air even though the match had not started yet. Some first years sat next to Poppy and slowly the whole Slytherin section begun filling up. Poppy turned back and caught a glimpse of Marcus sitting in the back next to Malfoy and his friends.

The game, or what little of it was visible, was exciting and Gryffindor actually stood a chance of winning until the dementors showed up and Harry Potter fell off his broom. The little rain drops had turned into full on thunder and lightning, the worst imaginable weather for Quidditch. Some of the students had evacuated themselves because the cold wind mixed with the rain made it impossible to see anything. Cedric Diggory caught the snitch and Hufflepuff won. Poppy saw Oliver's disappointed face as the Gryffindor team left the pitch, which The Hufflepuffs had invaded to congratulate their team. Poppy climbed down and decided to wait for her best friend near the exit.

"We won!" Grace squeeled when she finally broke free from the giant Hufflepuff group hug that was going on. "Even if it was mostly because Potter fell, we still won!"

"Great," Poppy said and didn't bother mentioning that both teams were quite equal until Potter fell and Hufflepuff could have won even if he hadn't.

"Cedric said he wants a rematch. He thinks it wasn't a fair victory and he went off to find Oliver," Grace said as she skipped happily towards the castle in the mud. "I don't know why, everybody's so happy right now."

The two girls ran to the castle in an attempt to stay dry, which at this point was impossible. Then they headed towards their own dormitories to freshen up before supper. On her way to the dungeons, Poppy ran into Oliver.

"Sorry about the match," she said, knowing quite well her brother was a sore loser. "Did Diggory find you, he wanted to-"

"Yes, he found me," Oliver cut her off. "And I told him Hufflepuff won fair and square."

"So, no rematch?" Poppy questioned and frowned.

"No," Oliver said and added that he had to go visit Potter in the hospital wing. Poppy knew this was a lie and Oliver would probably go to his dormitory and start obsessing about what happens if Gryffindor loses another match and how this one loss affects their chances of winning the cup, but she didn't say anything. He could obsess for hours on end about some tiny detail and no words could offer him any comfort.

"How's your face?" Poppy asked.

"It's fine, a few bruises. Nothing I can't handle," Oliver replied. "Did Flint tell you what happened? The whole story?"

"Of course, why wouldn't he?" Poppy asked.

"Well you seem completely fine and not at all mad at me, so I assumed he didn't," Oliver said.

"Why would I be mad at you?" Poppy asked and was slowly getting confused. Was Marcus not telling her the truth?

"Well, I did hit him after he told me that-," Oliver said but quickly stopped. "I mean, he's your friend or something."

"You hit him first?" Poppy yelled. "What exactly did he say that made you punch him?"

"Uh, well, uh. I should go. I'm a bit confused about the events of that night, so you should just listen to Flint. I'm sure his version of events is the exact right one," Oliver rambled, quickly turned and sprinted away.

Poppy was mad. She couldn't understand why Marcus would lie to her and planned on finding out right then and there. She raced to the dungeons, to the Slytherin common room and when Marcus wasn't there, she ran down the steps to the seventh year boys dormitory. And there he was, laying on his bed but there were also others.

"Get out!" Poppy yelled. "All of you, except Flint. Out now!"

"And why should we obey you?" said a boy whose name Poppy had always known but couldn't care enough to remember.

"Just go," Marcus mumbled before Poppy had a chance to say anything. The other two boys got up and left.

"You lied to me!" Poppy shouted. "Why would you lie to me?"

Marcus looked confused, so Poppy elaborated.

"Oliver hit first, not you! Why would you lie about that, it makes no sense! And he said he punched you after you told him something. What was it?" Poppy kept rambling and raising her voice. "Why would you lie? I thought we were friends and friends aren't supposed to lie to each other and, what? Do you not want to be my friend anymore? I sure as hell don't want to be yours if you'll keep saying things to my brother that make him want to punch you and then you'll lie about it!"

"Don't you ever breathe?" Marcus asked and gestured towards the bed next to his. Poppy sat down on it. "I lied because your brother told me it would be best to stay away from you, so I tried doing that, but I can see you're not going to let me end this thing, even if it might be best for all of us."

"You're stuck with me, to hell with Oliver," Poppy said and laughed a little.

"I've been saying that for years," Marcus said.

His expression changed from mostly happy to completely shocked as Poppy wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. Marcus didn't know what to do but Poppy wasn't letting go so he had no choice but to wrap his arms around her waist. He didn't even mind that Poppy was soaking wet and her hair was dripping all over his shoulders.

In reality the hug only lasted for maybe twenty seconds but to Marcus it felt an hour long.


	12. Revelations

**Chapter 12: Revelations**

"Why did Oliver punch you?" Poppy asked one morning, at breakfast. "He said you told him something that made him want to punch you. What was it?"

She had been going over the scenario in her head for almost a week straight and had finally realised, that Marcus never told her why Oliver hit him. Replaying the words in her head, she specifically remembered Oliver saying it was the result of something Marcus had said, but he wouldn't say what it was.

"I told you, he said to stay away from you and I said no," Marcus replied, casually.

"No, that can't be it. Oliver wouldn't hit you over that," Poppy argued. It was true, Oliver hated Marcus a lot but would never just hit him over something so small.

Occasionally, while trying to figure out the details, Poppy fiddled on the idea that maybe Marcus had similar feelings for her as she did for him. Grace had been joking about that for a while but Poppy never thought she was too serious and if Marcus did like her, why would he tell Oliver? Surely he wasn't that stupid.

"I also told him he needs to stop trying to run your life," Marcus grumbled. "Now stop asking about it."

There was no use trying to get more information from Marcus. It didn't seem like Oliver to start a fight over small things, usually he had better reasons for punching people, like when he thought Marcus was spreading nasty rumors about Poppy. That was a good reason. Then again, Marcus did have some unique ways of presenting his thoughts and a unique, sometimes vulgar vocabulary. It was possible he had just spoken in a way that pushed Oliver off the edge. He was already tense about Quidditch and his last year of school, and Poppy's friendship with Marcus was not exactly helping him relax.

A week ago, Poppy had hugged Marcus. She regretted it immediately. Marcus was not really the hugging type, though he had hugged back, and she was worried the hug might have sent the wrong message. A message of something more than friendship.

Marcus was munching on a breakfast roll when Poppy interrupted him with a question.

"Do you know anyone who would want to date me?" she asked, in an attempt to make the hug seem meaningless.

"What?" Marcus asked, nearly choking on his roll.

"You know, a boy who would want to take me to Hogsmeade and buy me things from Honeydukes," Poppy said.

"I can do that for you," Marcus replied and quickly added, "I mean, you don't need a boyfriend for that."

"What if I want one?" Poppy asked.

"I'm sure Adrian would love to have another chance," Marcus mumbled, sounding almost angry. "Excuse me."

He left without finishing his breakfast. Poppy sighed. Boys were difficult and she didn't know how to read them. She wanted to know if she was just imagining things, or if Grace was right and Marcus really did fancy Poppy. She decided to do straight to the source of information and approached Grace at the Hufflepuff table.

"I need your help," she said.

"Oh, finally!" Grace said happily. "With what?"

Poppy sat down. Breakfast was nearing its end so there were few students around.

"I need to know, if he likes me," Poppy said and saw a big smile forming onto Grace's face.

"Just ask him, silly!"

"No, I don't want him to know how I feel."

"Oh. I think I have something that could help."

Grace rummaged around in her bag for a while, looking for something. It wasn't an easy feat, since her bag was always messy, filled with things she'd never need but carried with her anyway, just in case.

"Ha, found it!" she exclaimed happily and pulled out an issue of Teen Witches Weekly. On the cover, a blinking headline read 'How To See If He's Bewitched By You'.

"Grace, I don't think that's going to help," Poppy said, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course it will, this is quality journalism!"

She flipped through the magasine to get to the right article. Pictures of a winking young wizard adorned the pages.

"Let's see... Does he smile at you often? Well, that's a big, fat no," Grace said, scanning the article with her eyes. "He doesn't smile at anyone."

"That's... Sort of true."

"When you speak, does he look like he's actually listening and understanding?" Grace asked.

Poppy shrugged.

"Okay, another no. Blah, blah, blah... Does he try to find reasons to touch you... Probably not... Is he nervous around you?" Grace rambled, reading parts of the article out loud.

"Well, no," Poppy answered.

"Does he gently tease you? YES! He did do that! We got one!" Grace exclaimed happily.

"Great. So far, it seems he's not interested."

"There's one thing in here you could try," Grace said. "You could flirt with him and see how he reacts."

"I don't know how to flirt!" Poppy gasped.

"Right, that's true. Just compliment him on something. Tell him he smells nice. Touch his arm, they like that. Try to be subtle, though I know you can't, but try anyway."

It was easy for Grace to say, these things came so naturally to her, and she had two older sisters from whom she'd learned how to act around boys and how to do girly things. Poppy was sure it would be a huge mistake but at lunch, she decided to put her flirting skills to the test. Marcus was sitting right next to her and students around them were chatting away. It was the perfect moment.

"So, how were your classes?" she asked, looking him in the eye, as she placed her hand on his arm. He looked down at it and then up at her with a slight scowl, before pulling his arm away.

"Boring," he muttered.

So far, his level of interest appeared to be at a zero as physical contact was completely rejected.

"We have practice later, right?" Poppy asked.

"Yes," Marcus replied.

"You always smell so good after practice," Poppy said, trying to sound confident and alluring, though feeling nothing of the sorts.

Marcus turned to look at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. His eyebrows furrowed.

"Have you been drinking?" he asked.

"What? No!" Poppy said. This was going so well. It was time for one last attempt, something she had seen Grace do a hundred times and it always seemed to work. Poppy, who wasn't wearing a robe over her uniform, slowly arched her back, pushing out her chest, and threw her head back, running her fingers through her hair. She heard a whistle from across the table, probably Montague, but Marcus did not seem interested. He was looking at Poppy almost deadpan, with just a hint of anger.

"Is that how you'll find yourself a boyfriend?" he muttered, quickly leaving the table, and Poppy more confused than ever. The magasine had not said anything about a boy getting angry when flirted with. Poppy took that as a bad sign.

Later in the day, the Slytherins had Quidditch practice. It was almost the end of November and it had been raining since the last Quidditch match. The team was groaning about having to practice in such horrible weather but Marcus didn't seem to care. They were out on the pitch for at least two hours but to Poppy it felt five times as long. The rain was coming down so hard it was difficult to see ahead and the wind was almost knocking players off brooms.

Marcus signalled and the team landed.

"Everyone else can go but I think Wood could use a little more practice!" he shouted to be heard over the rain.

"What? Me? What about Malfoy? He's not exactly seeker of the year!" Poppy shouted back and saw Malfoy smirking, as the rest of the team headed for the locker room.

"You were fine," Marcus said, moving closer to her. "I just wanted to get you alone for a minute."

Poppy froze as Marcus kept inching in closer and closer. What was he talking about? Why was he getting so close, had the flirting actually worked? He stood barely an inch from her and leaned in to her ear. She felt his breath and shivered.

"I don't appreciate being made fun of," he whispered before turning and walking away.

"Wh-what?" Poppy stuttered and ran after him. She grabbed his arm to turn him around. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not stupid, I get it. You think I fancy you and you wanted to tease me about it," Marcus said and continued walking away.

"No, that's not what I meant!" Poppy shouted, following him.

They reached the locker room where Marcus found some towels. The rest of the team was already gone.

"You should probably get out of those clothes or this towel won't be much help," Marcus said and Poppy raised an eyebrow. "I won't watch or anything."

He disappeared behind the corner, to the showers. Poppy took off the clothes she had worn for practice and was just now realizing how cold and drenched she actually was.

"Are you decent in there?" Marcus shouted after a while and Poppy replied, "Yes."

Marcus walked back to the locker room and he was only wearing a towel around his waist. This wasn't an unusual sight to Poppy as Marcus walked around with just a towel on all the time after practice. She sometimes thought he would probably walk around naked if she wasn't on the team and it would be all boys. She was sitting on the bench, wearing a towel around her and another one in her hair. Marcus sat next to her.

"Are you mad?" Poppy asked.

"A little," Marcus said with a stern face.

"I wasn't trying to make fun of you. I just wanted to know how you feel about me," Poppy tried to explain.

"You could have just asked."

"I didn't want to ruin our friendship."

"You want to know how I feel?"

Poppy nodded. Marcus looked as if he was hesitating for a moment but then grabbed Poppy's bare shoulders, pulling her closer. And he kissed her. It wasn't just a light peck, no, this was a full-on, passionate snog. Poppy's first kiss. It felt good, better than she had ever imagined. Though, nothing about her first kiss was how she'd expected. She was half naked, with Marcus Flint, in the changing room of the Quidditch pitch. Grace was going to have a fit over this.

The kiss must have lasted for minutes. Poppy didn't try to pull away, instead she tried to reciprocate, not knowing if she was even doing it right. Marcus finally pulled away and let go of Poppy's shoulders.

"So, uh, that's how I feel," Marcus said, after a moment of silence.

"Right, yeah, good," Poppy said. She couldn't think of anything else.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"You know, pretty much the same," she replied. He simply nodded. Neither of them knew what to say, or do, next.


	13. A Birthday

**Chapter 13: A Birthday**

"So, then what happened?" Grace asked Poppy the next day. They were sitting on a window-sill by the courtyard as it was the quietest place they had found. Poppy didn't want any extra ears hearing her story. She had already explained what happened on the pitch and had just moved on to the locker room.

"He kissed me," Poppy said.

"WHAT?" Grace shrieked ear-splittingly loud. "Weren't you naked?"

"I was wearing a towel," Poppy said. "Why is that important?"

"Details are everything. How was it?"

"It was... Pretty great."

"You finally had your first kiss, I'm so happy!"

Grace was beaming like a proud mother as she hugged Poppy. "And then?"

"We sort of stared at each other and he mumbled he should go... And he did."

"Are you sure you did it right? Whenever I kiss somebody they don't just get up and leave seconds after."

Poppy punched Grace's arm.

"Hey, ow!" Grace cried out.

"What do I do now?"

"I wish I knew. Do you think he'll remember your birthday?"

"Doubt it."

Today was Poppy's fifteenth birthday. Grace had bought her a book about Quidditch, 'Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland', that Poppy had been admiring in a mail-order catalog. It was a great gift, Poppy thought. Oliver had gotten her tickets to go see the Falmouth Falcons next summer and Poppy was super excited for it. Oliver's birthday had been just two weeks earlier and Poppy now felt bad, having gotten him only hand-knit mittens.

Poppy hadn't seen Marcus all day. He wasn't at breakfast and he didn't show up for lunch, either. It wasn't until supper that he appeared but didn't sit next to Poppy. The Hufflepuff-Ravenclaw game would be played tomorrow and all week Marcus had been thinking about how it would affect Slytherin if Hufflepuff would win again, though he didn't think it was likely. Poppy thought maybe he was just preoccupied with Quidditch or maybe he just didn't want to think about the kiss. Maybe she had been bad at it.

After supper, Poppy was walking alone to the dungeons when somebody grabbed her, pulling her into a broom closet. She was about to scream when she saw it was Marcus. The closet was tiny, cramped with cleaning supplies, and they were standing right next to each other. He smelled nice, she noted.

"Sorry," Marcus said. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"Am I a bad kisser?" Poppy blurted out.

"What?" Marcus asked, surprised.

"Is that why you've been avoiding me?"

"What? I haven't... Well, if I have, it wasn't because of that. The kiss was bloody perfect."

"Oh."

"It was just... I don't think it should happen again."

Poppy, expecting him to say something completely different, didn't know how to respond.

"Anyway, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday," Marcus said and pulled out a huge gift from behind his back. It was wrapped in silver paper with an emerald green ribbon. Slytherin colours, typical Marcus. He handed it to Poppy, who was even more speechless now. "Open it."

She opened the beautifully wrapped box only to find it contained the exact, huge chocolate bar she had admired at Honeydukes a month ago.

"You said you wanted someone to buy you things from Honeydukes," he explained.

"I love it, you shouldn't have," Poppy said. "But why are we in a cupboard?"

"Trying to be considerate of you, for once. Thought you might not want to be seen with me, so nobody gets the wrong idea. And, I think maybe, considering your brother, we should just be friends," Marcus said.

"Since when do you care what Oliver thinks?" Poppy asked, pouting her lips. This was not going the way she had imagined at all.

"I don't, but you do. The kiss was great, but I don't want to come between you two. He is your only family."

"He would just have to deal with it."

"And if he can't, you'll have to make a choice and you would choose him, as you should. Trust me, it's best if we just stay friends."

Poppy wasn't pleased but knew he was mostly right, so she agreed. She wasn't sure how their friendship would work from now on, but decided to try it anyway. Was she supposed to forget the kiss, forget her feelings? How could she?

After breakfast the next morning, Hufflepuff played against Ravenclaw and it was apparent their latest victory had an effect on the Hufflepuffs' confidence. They were so confident, in fact, that they clearly thought winning wouldn't require much of an effort. Ravenclaw completely flattened Hufflepuff and won the game. Marcus said to Poppy that they had nothing to worry about and that the Ravenclaws won just because they were slightly less weak than the Hufflepuffs. The next game would be Slytherin against Ravenclaw but it wouldn't be played until after Christmas.

Grace caught up to Poppy after the game. She was just walking next to Marcus when Grace grabbed her coat and quickly pulled her aside.

"Sorry, I need her!" Grace yelped at Marcus who was left standing there, completely dumbfounded. Grace dragged Poppy a little further from the crowd heading towards the castle before finally letting go.

"What now?" Poppy asked. "What is so important you had to pull me away from-"

"From Flint?" Grace asked and raised an eyebrow.

"No, from the line of students all heading inside where it's nice and warm," Poppy said, annoyed.

"So, tell me, what's been happening?" Grace asked excitedly.

"He gave me chocolate for my birthday, said we should just be friends and told me I'm a great kisser," Poppy said. "To sum it up."

"Really? You were pretty snuggly during the game," Grace remarked.

"I was cold, he was warming me," Poppy said, and felt a twinge of guilt, as if she was lying to Grace. It had been a very cold, windy day, and Poppy and Marcus had sat huddled up against each other for warmth and in that moment, Poppy didn't think it meant anything, but now she wasn't so sure.

"Alright, if you say so."

At supper that night, McGonagall gathered the names of students staying at Hogwarts for Christmas and both Poppy and Marcus were staying. Oliver was going to London and said he had some important matters to tend to. Grace was going to spend Christmas with her family and even invited Poppy along but, as always, she declined. Christmas at Hogwarts was always the highlight of her school year and she couldn't possibly miss out on it.

Next morning, Grace came over to the Slytherin table at breakfast and squeezed herself between Poppy and Marcus. Marcus looked at her a little funny but didn't say anything. As Grace rambled on, he kept eating his breakfast with slight amusement.

"You'll never believe what happened last night!" Grace exclaimed to Poppy.

"I'm sure it's no more unbelievable than your other stories," Poppy said, noticing Marcus smiling a bit.

"So, Cedric was bummed out about the loss and I tried cheering him up," Grace said. "And one thing led to another and we ended up snogging on his bed!"

Grace wasn't exactly speaking quietly so quite a few Slytherins raised an eyebrow while at the same time trying to look as if they weren't listening.

"That's... Great?" Poppy said with uncertainty.

"Well, I think so. Hey, you're a man," Grace said, turning to Marcus.

"Apparently," Marcus replied.

"Do you think he kissed me just because he was sad or is there something more?"

"Considering it's Diggory we're talking about, he's not the type to just snog you and toss you away."

"Are you?" Grace asked with a snarky tone.

"Grace!" Poppy exclaimed, shocked. Grace had always been direct but this was a whole new level of rude.

"It's fine, Poppy," Marcus said and turned to Grace. "When it comes to women, me and Diggory are not all that different, believe it or not. But I believe he's the one you should be talking to."

"You might be right," Grace said, getting up. "But just so you know, I'm watching you."

Poppy rolled her eyes at her friend while Marcus laughed slightly.

"So, there's a party next Saturday," he began as Grace left to go back to her own table.

"What?"

"A party. A Christmas type thing. And I was wondering if you'd want to go," Marcus continued.

"With you?" Poppy asked.

"Yes, as my friend."

Poppy agreed but Marcus wouldn't give her any more details of the party except that it wouldn't be all Slytherins. Poppy was quite puzzled as she hadn't know there were any inter-house parties at Hogwarts but at the same time she was rather excited.

Later that day, Poppy met up with Grace.

"I just love Christmas, don't you?" Grace exclaimed as the two girls were walking down the hall and saw Hagrid and Filch putting up the last of the Christmas decorations.

"You say that about everything. A few weeks from now and you'll just love New Year's and then you'll love Easter and it goes on and on..." Poppy pointed out. It was true, Grace had a soft spot for every holiday imaginable.

"You forgot about Valentine's Day," Grace said.

"Speaking of that, what's happening with you and Cedric?" Poppy asked.

"He invited me to some Christmas party next Saturday," Grace said. "I don't know what it is, exactly."

"Well, Marcus invited me. I know as much as you do."

"Wait, Poppy, how are you going to tell Oliver you're going to a party with Flint?"

"Why would I tell him?"

"He might be invited."

Poppy stopped dead in her tracks. She hadn't even thought of that. Of course Oliver would be invited, why wouldn't he be? Marcus was invited, so was Cedric, and Oliver wasn't exactly unpopular. But the more she thought about it, she realized he wasn't exactly the party-going kind either.

"He won't go," she said finally. "He doesn't go to parties."

"Well, you don't know that," Grace said. "He doesn't tell you everything, you know that."

"Well, I'm not even going with Marcus. He's just bringing me along as a friend," Poppy said.

"How is that going? The friendship?"

"It's confusing. We kissed, then he says he wants to kiss me again but that we should just be friends for Oliver's sake. Why does he care?"

"He cares about you, not Oliver."

"I know. It's just annoying. He should stop caring so damn much."

Poppy spent the next few days studying and trying to catch up with all of her assignments. Teachers seemed to be piling on more and more of them right before the holidays. She also had her last Quidditch practice for the year. It was freezing and for once Marcus was fair and didn't have the team out in the cold for hours on end. Afterwards Poppy and Marcus enjoyed some hot cocoa with their supper. Marcus said he would have preferred to have his with a splash of firewhiskey.

On Friday, the day before the party, Poppy was nervous and she knew exactly why. She wasn't nervous about the party, she was actually excited to get to attend something with her friends. It seemed as though it would be more fun than a strictly Slytherins-only type of gathering. She was just a bit troubled about the fact she was going with Marcus. He had said they were going as friends but these days Poppy didn't know what those words meant anymore. Would there be dancing? Would Marcus ask Poppy to dance or would he find some other girl to have fun with in an attempt to move on? Should Poppy try to move on with someone else? Mostly she was worried her brain might explode before the party even began.

Grace was helping Poppy pick out what to wear tomorrow. She wasn't allowed in the Slytherin dorms so Poppy had lugged some of her clothes to the nearest girls bathroom and was trying them on. Grace was a bit anxious to be going with Cedric as it would be their first actual date. She said so far their one-week-old relationship had been more about snogging than talking.

"Don't get me wrong, he's a great kisser," Grace said. "It's just, I feel as if I can't think of what to say to him and we just end up snogging instead of getting to know each other."

"I never thought I'd see the day when you don't have something to say."

"I know!" Grace exlaimed.

"Do you think there'll be a huge mess if Oliver shows up to this thing?" Poppy asked, worried.

"Maybe. I mean, I know you're just friends and that is what I keep telling people who ask me but I don't know if they believe me."

"People ask you if we're a couple?"

This was new information to Poppy. Sure, they had been getting some looks from people and she knew the Slytherins liked to rumor about them a bit but she didn't know it was becoming widespread.

"All the time. Personally, I think you would be good together."

"You can tell that to Oliver."

"I could but I choose not to. I don't want him to hate me as much as he hates Flint."


	14. A Christmas Party

**Chapter 14: A Christmas Party**

That snowy Saturday was not only the day of the Christmas party Marcus had invited to, but the day of the years last Hogsmeade visit as well. Students usually used this opportunity to do some last minute Christmas shopping, and Marcus was no exception.

"I'm sorry, I have to buy Christmas gifts," he told Poppy when she asked him to go for a butterbeer with her. She didn't need to buy anything, as she usually preferred to gift hand-made items.

"Maybe we can meet up after you're done," Poppy said, hopeful. Grace was spending the whole day with Cedric and Poppy didn't want to spend her day alone, obsessing about the upcoming party.

"Maybe, but I can't promise you anything. This might take a while."

Poppy wandered around the shops alone, but not having money to buy anything, finally settled to spending her day at The Three Broomsticks. She had brought along a book to read just in case.

"Poppy!" someone called out and she looked up. It was Oliver. He made his way to her through the crowded bar and sat down at her table.

"It's freezing out there," Oliver said as he removed his hat and scarf. "You're lucky you're inside."

"I'm so lucky all my friends abandoned me," Poppy said dryly.

"Well, I'm here," Oliver said and flashed a smile, the first one in a long time.

"You don't have a date?"

"Not this time."

Poppy had missed spending time with her brother. It seemed ever since she and Marcus became friends, she only saw Oliver when he was angry with her. Poppy decided to take advantage of his good mood and had him buy her a hot chocolate. She knew he only seemed happy because Marcus was nowhere around her but decided to enjoy this rare moment nonetheless. As they were catching up, she was careful not to mention Marcus' name and only spoke briefly of Quidditch. Poppy tried to keep the discussion light and so she talked about her schoolwork and Grace's latest relationship and made Oliver laugh. On the outside she seemed happy, but she couldn't shake the feeling of how horrible it felt, not being able to talk freely to her brother. She used to tell him everything.

Before the party, a lot was happening in the Slytherin common room. Older boys were telling the younger students to go to their dormitories even though it was only six o'clock and a lot of the sixth and seventh year girls were disappearing into their dormitories giggling with their friends while others were sitting around the fireplace sulking. Poppy figured they were the girls who didn't get invited but she was wondering why it seemed as if everyone knew what was going on. The party wasn't broadcast all over the school and she'd never heard of it before even though Marcus had sort of hinted he'd been there before.

While Poppy was getting dressed, she kept peeking out the door just to see if Marcus was waiting for her. A lot of the Slytherin boys were sitting in the common room, some of them dressed in fancy outfits and waiting for their dates. Poppy's favourite people in the world, Victoria and her friends, were also getting dolled up for the evening. She was disappointed to see they had apparently also been invited.

When she was ready, she stepped out to the common room to finally see Marcus there. He was clearly representing Slytherin with his dark green vest which he wore with a tidy black shirt and black pants. At least there was no snake pattern or silver, Poppy thought to herself.

"You look amazing," he said. She was wearing a simple, strapless black dress with a full, knee-length skirt and black heels. Her blonde hair was lightly curled at the ends. She had even put on mascara and pink lipstick.

"You're not so bad yourself," she said with a smile and they headed for the door.

"Right, so what is this party, anyway?" Poppy changed the subject as they walked through the school halls.

"It's kind of an annual thing. Just a Christmas party to get everyone in the holiday spirit and give the four houses a chance to socialise," Marcus replied.

"Since when do you care about socialising with other houses?" Poppy teased and Marcus smiled.

"I don't, actually, but some people find it rewarding. They must be insane."

They walked for a long time and seemed to be heading towards the Quidditch pitch. Poppy saw the doors leading outside and stopped.

"Is that where were headed? We'll freeze!" she exclaimed.

"Don't worry," Marcus replied as he opened the doors to reveal some sort of pathway surrounded by small lights. He stepped outside and didn't even shiver so Poppy followed and was surprised to find that the freezing weather outside seemed to have disappeared. She stuck her hand outside the lit path to see if she was right about the pathway being under a heating spell and she was. Marcus tugged on her hand a little bit to remind her they should keep moving.

"How can this be here? What about the teachers? Or the dementors?" Poppy asked, amazed something like this had been going on for who knows how many years without anyone knowing.

"I don't know, it's just well organized," Marcus shrugged and it occurred to Poppy that he probably had not thought about it before.

"By who? Who invited you?" Poppy continued.

"Not sure. Every year I just get a note and it tells me where to go and when," Marcus explained. "This year was exciting, though, I got my first note that told me I could and should bring a guest."

"What if I didn't want to come?" Poppy asked.

"Then you wouldn't have come and I would've come alone. Simple."

They arrived at the locker rooms of the Quidditch pitch. They were nicely decorated with Christmas ornaments on the doors and some lights going around them. A blonde boy was standing at the door, Poppy recognized him as Ernie Macmillan, a third-year Hufflepuff.

"Ah, Mister Flint!" Ernie exclaimed in his typical, pompous manner and turned to face Poppy with a smile. "I see you've brought the lovely Miss Wood. I hope you both have a lovely evening."

He opened the doors behing him and Poppy and Marcus walked in.

"They have to make sure nobody uninvited gets in," Marcus explained. "And dorks like him can guard the doors to earn themselves an invite for next year."

Couches had been set up along the walls and all the lockers and benches had been moved to make room for the party guests. A lot of students were already there. Poppy recognised a lot of fellow Slytherins and some Hufflepuffs. Fred and George Weasley from the Gryffindor Quidditch team were there but luckily there was no sign of Oliver, at least yet. Grace had parked herself by the punch bowl in the middle of the room and was offering to pour drinks for any boys that walked past.

Poppy made her way towards Grace and was sort of surprised when Marcus followed her there.

"Want some punch?" Grace asked as soon as they reached her and held out a cup.

"I didn't know you were working at this party," Poppy said jokingly but took the cup as Grace poured one for Marcus.

"Ha, ha. This is the best way to meet everybody," Grace said.

"Who is there to meet? You go to school with these twats and see them everyday," Marcus said and took a sip of his drink.

"True, but tonight almost everybody is dressed really fancy and even boys have done their hair. Nobody is wearing an ugly uniform or anything," Grace said. "Even you look almost presentable."

"You know, somebody might think you're a wee bit shallow," Marcus said with a grin and Poppy laughed.

"Well, what do you know, he actually makes you laugh," Grace said with a smile. "And I thought you were lying."

"Yes, well, anyway," Poppy began to change the subject. "I thought Cedric was your date?"

"He is. He's just gone to get some more punch, you know how we Hufflepuffs are. Always helpful," Grace said. "Besides, it's not like we're married. I am free to meet other men."

They moved to one of the couches that had been set up for the party and just sat for at least half an hour, talking about things that could not have been less interesting to Marcus but it seemed he was there to stay. Poppy had sort of assumed they wouldn't spend much time together, since they came as just friends. Grace brought up the subject of boys, which Poppy thought would finally scare Marcus off but no, he was stuck to his seat.

"I'm actually a little mad at Cedric for leaving me alone here, we're supposed to be on a date and suddenly he has to go get punch? It's not his party!" Grace started ranting. "And he's been gone a long time, maybe I scared him off for good."

"Maybe he's just nervous," Poppy suggested.

"Maybe," said Marcus, who Poppy was sure hadn't even been listening to their conversation, "you should go dance with the Weasley twins over there, so when he comes back, he'll see you don't need him to have fun."

"How is that going to work?" Grace asked.

"It'll work, trust me. Unless you're scared."

"Ha!"

And sure enough, twenty seconds later Grace was already tearing up the dance floor with the twins.

"She's not scared of anything," Poppy said to Marcus.

"I figured. And I kind of wanted to spend some time with just you," he replied and Poppy was sure she was blushing. His hand was on her knee but he didn't seem to even notice it.

Poppy saw Grace had stopped dancing and was staring straight at Poppy while nudging her head towards the door. Poppy turned to see what was happening and there he was. Her beloved brother, Marcus' nemesis and the subject of every Gryffindor girls' fantasies: Oliver Wood. He was standing at the door, looking at Poppy and Marcus with a look that screamed hatred and confusion at the same time. Marcus quickly removed his hand from Poppy's knee. The Weasleys rushed to the door, took Oliver by the arms and dragged him somewhere further away.

"I should probably go talk to him," Poppy said and got up. She found Oliver and the Weasleys outside and told the twins it was ok. They went back inside but said they wouldn't go far.

Oliver looked angrier than ever before and this just made Poppy angry at him. She knew Marcus understood Oliver's point of view but she still couldn't. Why was Oliver trying to run her life for her? Who was he to say who she can and can't be friends with? Before Oliver had a chance to say anything, Poppy was already screaming at him.

"What is your problem?" she shouted and he looked taken aback. "I know you hate him because he's a Slytherin but guess what, so am I!"

"I don't hate him for that! I hate him because of all the little things you seem to be completely blind to and I cannot understand why you would want to be with someone like that!" Oliver yelled and before Poppy responded, he continued. "And don't try to tell me you're just friends, I know what friendship looks like and that's not it!"

"So you're not just angry at him, you're angry at me too?" Poppy asked.

"Yes! He's violent, he drinks, he cheats, he smokes and once he gets what he wants he will leave you! Why can't you see that?" Oliver shouted.

"You don't know him! How can you say those things when you don't really know anything about him?" Poppy yelled.

"Because I grew up with that! He is exactly like Dad! You were so small you don't remember it, and I've tried to shield you from the truth but I can't let you make this mistake!" Oliver shouted. "And I don't want to be the one to pick up the pieces when he breaks you!"

Poppy was taken aback. Oliver's face was red and his anger seemed to be fading to sadness. He sat down on the wet grass. She didn't know what to say anymore. Marcus walked outside. He appeared to have heard everything, which made Poppy think everyone else had too. Marcus walked up to Poppy and took her hands into his.

"You should go," he said. Poppy looked at him, eyes wide, and Marcus squeezed her hands, reassuring her that it was ok. She walked back inside and glanced back one more time before opening the door to see Marcus sitting next to Oliver. Once she got inside, everybody was still partying and nobody seemed to even notice her. Grace ran up to her and asked what had happened.

"You didn't hear any of that?" Poppy asked, confused.

"No, Flint put up some spell," Grace said and Poppy sighed of relief.

"Good. I'll tell you later, right now I just want a drink."


	15. The Prince and the Dragon

**Chapter 15: The Prince and the Dragon**

Marcus didn't mean to eavesdrop but he couldn't help it. After he'd gotten rid of the Weasleys and conjured a silencing spell, he moved a few steps further and confirmed that nothing from the outside could be heard inside. His curiosity got the best of him and he slowly stepped closer towards the door. It was open a little bit, so he could hear quite well. Nobody seemed to notice him lurking around the door as the party was back in full swing. Everybody had definitely noticed Oliver arriving but nobody seemed to care about what happened afterwards.

Marcus could hear Oliver listing all of Marcus' bad qualities, Poppy shouting back, Oliver yelling things about their father and then everything went silent. Marcus thought maybe he should go see what was going on. He walked outside to see Oliver sitting on the ground and Poppy standing next to him. Marcus took her hands and told her to go inside. He slowly sat next to Oliver and when Oliver didn't immediately start throwing punches, Marcus assumed he was safe.

"My mother died giving birth to me," Marcus said when he saw Poppy had left. Oliver looked up at him from the ground, slightly confused and as if he'd been holding back tears, his face red. "My father raised me and he wasn't exactly what you would call a loving father. You know how some wealthy folks let nannies raise their children?"

Oliver nodded.

"I wasn't one of those lucky bastards. My father believed in discipline. Harsh, physical discipline. I wasn't allowed to do much of anything at home so as soon as I got to school, I started acting out. I suppose that's where the drinking and smoking comes from," Marcus continued.

"Violence, too, I suppose," he added after a short pause. "Some people might say I'm exactly like my father but I disagree. He never loved anyone after my mother died, not even me. And I never thought I could love anyone, either."

"How is this relevant to me?" Oliver asked.

"You love Poppy and you want to protect her," Marcus said. Oliver nodded. "That's why you packed up and left your mother as soon as you could and you took her with you. When I turned seventeen, I emptied my bank vault and got myself an apartment. My father found out and tried to beat me as I was leaving. He hadn't tried to hit me in a few years, because he knew I was stronger than him but this time he was clearly full of rage. I suppose he wanted me to stay with him forever."

"What happened?" Oliver asked.

"I took him down with one punch. It was the first time I'd ever hit him. After that I've never looked back," Marcus replied.

"I'm not sure why you're telling me this," Oliver said.

"I care about your sister," Marcus said. "And I don't want to come between you two. She's already lost enough family."

"You could be the greatest guy in the world, though you're not, but you're still not good enough for her. I mean, the age difference alone is just... Killing me."

"I've told her that I'll be her friend, nothing more, but you know how stubborn she is. If you keep fighting her on this, well, nothing good is going to come of it."

With that, they both got up from the ground and made their way towards the door. Marcus opened it and Oliver stepped inside. Marcus followed and was just about to ask if he could ask Poppy to dance, when he noticed Oliver looking at something. Actually, a lot of the students seemed fixated on something, or rather, someone in the middle of the room. A blonde girl with a black dress was jumping on one of the couches with a drink in her hand and singing loudly and very much out of tune to the music.

"Poppy!" Oliver exclaimed. He sounded angry while Marcus looked at Poppy with slight amusement. "What on earth do you think you're doing?"

"I'm having fun, big brother! You should try it!" Poppy yelled while laughing and doing another spin on the couch, spilling some of her drink. Grace was slightly holding on to Poppy's leg, making sure she didn't fall and Cedric looked ready to catch her if she did. "This is the best party ever!"

"Me thinks the lady might be a wee bit tipsy," Marcus said with a smile and Oliver shot him a look of death.

"If you don't get off that couch right now..." Oliver said but Poppy just stuck her tongue out and continued singing. Most of the students around seemed to find the situation funny, somebody had a camera out and a few were just looking around to see if anyone else was disgusted.

"One ought not come to a party if one has no sense of humor," Marcus proclaimed and Oliver glared at him again. He began walking towards Poppy, but Marcus quickly swooped ahead of him and said, "I've got this, mate."

Marcus walked over, grabbed Poppy by the waist and placed her on his shoulder so that her legs were in the front. Grace took Poppys drink, much to her dismay, and Marcus walked out while some of the students clapped and whistled.

"My prince has come to save me from the evil dragon!" Poppy exclaimed before they exited and Marcus heard a roar of laughter from behind them. He carried her like that all the way to the Slytherin dungeons and somewhere on the way she either fell asleep or passed out. Since he couldn't enter the girls dormitory, he placed her on his own bed and tucked her in but as he was exiting the dormitory, she woke up.

"Where are you going?" Poppy asked quietly.

"I'll sleep in the common room. You just sleep there,l" Marcus replied.

"No, you have to come here. You're my prince," she whispered.

He moved closer to the bed and sat on the edge of it.

"Are you sure? You're quite drunk," he asked.

"Absolutely," she said with a smile. Marcus hesitated for a while but he lifted the covers and got in the bed next to her. He thought it was innocent enough, they were both fully clothed and everything. It wasn't until Poppy fell asleep again and wrapped her arms around him while scooting in even closer he felt he might've done something wrong again.


End file.
